Star Trek: Only an Ensign
by Chekov is totally Awesome
Summary: There comes a point in life when your past catches up with you. This moment had come for Pavel Chekov. His klingon step-family have found him and want some help tying up loose ends from when he was a child. It's a race across Russia for Chekov, a race against time for the rest of the crew to find him. Can Jim make his navigator realise he's worth more than he thinks?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one**

Incident

The crew of the Enterprise bridge stood in silence, one person leaning against the wall, looking up to the sky and wishing like hell that he was back home, where this would never have happened. The rest of them waited anxiously; they didn't know what was going on. Yet. That was what Pavel Chekov kept telling himself, over and over. He was supposed to be working out a cover story but his mind kept slipping back to the rec room where he'd been a couple of minutes earlier. _How had he got there though?_ His half-brother had been there, both had been as shocked as the other, but that was a long story. _Think! I can't tell them the real reason, it would mean a full scale enquiry and I know where that would lead… straight to him. _The worried part of his mind told him to hurry up with a story but he never got a chance. Captain Kirk strode out of his office and gestured them all inside. He was done for now, it was a certainty.

Jim had never heard of anything so ridiculous in his life before. He could still recall the absurd report he'd heard, like someone had pressed the repeat button in his head. "Captain, one of the bridge crew just punched that ambassador's son in rec room 4. I think he's seriously wounded…" it didn't make sense; none of it did, to speak the truth. But anytime around now, one of the most trusted members of his crew would be speaking the truth. He tried telling himself there will be a simple explanation, but the more he thought it through, the more he realised there wasn't a reasonable explanation. He gave them all a steely glare as they walked past him, all of them with their heads bowed down, none of them making eye contact. Except one. Chekov, the Russian navigator, looked up at him, fixing him with a stare that seemed to speak, it seemed to say, "I'm so terribly sorry for what I did, there is a reason why we hate each other but I can't explain it, I know I shouldn't have, I just lost control." An understanding passed between them, you come clean in there, or after, and I'll try not to make the consequences too bad. James T. Kirk looked at his crew, with forced iciness and shut the door quietly…

As Hikaru Sulu, the helmsman, and Nyota Uhura, the communications lieutenant, walked out of the captain's office, they both felt twinges of sympathy for their friend and fellow crewman, Chekov. Everybody knew that if someone got the captain seriously angry, he could, and would, make your life a living hell. However, they were both also surprised, just as they had been when they received the summons to the office. Neither of them had been planning to go near any rec room, so they knew they were in the clear. When Chekov had stayed behind in the office instead of leaving with the rest of them, who were now confined to quarters, everyone had known that he was guilty of the "crime"; at least that was what the ambassador that was on board had called it. Personally, Sulu thought it was all over inflated. The fact that someone had been punched normally meant the culprit got off with a severe warning and a couple of hours of fatigues. But because ambassador Drogaff was on board, Chekov would have to be up for court martial. It just wasn't fair. Nearly everyone on the ship knew that Chekov and Klingons just didn't go together, not after what happened to his father. But only Chekov and Sulu knew about that. Sulu wondered as he entered his room if Chekov was going to use that to defend himself with.

Uhura entered her quarters and sat down on her bed slowly. She'd never heard the captain that angry, and to think he was acting to please the ambassador made it even worse. She shuddered when she thought of how scary the captain could be if he really was angry. Some of the others had not been able to keep the fear out of their eyes and body language, but Uhura had managed to do that much. She thought back to the office, the small desk shoved into the corner with the chair behind it, the captain striding along in front of them, trying to get the culprit to confess, he had had no such luck, but, why had Chekov stayed? He didn't have to confess, it would only be a few more days until the Ambassador was off the ship and then the captain would forget the entire incident. Uhura frowned slightly; she had never seen Pavel so nervous before in the time she'd known him. He had faced down so many things without really batting an eyelid to the danger he was in, but he had flinched every time Jim had moved toward him in that meeting. It was the curse, she thought absent-mindedly as she changed, the curse of being guilty. It was pointless pondering over it though, there was nothing she could do except feel sorry.

Back in the office, Jim walked up and down; he was determined to get the truth out of Pavel. It was going to be a long process because the young Russian ensign was refusing to tell him why he had punched the klingon. "So you saw him, he insulted you with something you refuse to tell me for some reason and that's when you punched him." Jim recalled.

"Yes sir." Chekov confirmed. He was almost quivering and he still wasn't making eye contact with him.

Jim took one look at this young man and saw in him the regret over what he had done to the klingon. He took a deep sigh and felt suddenly sympathetic for him. "Look," Jim began, he shook his head slightly. He had no idea why, but he could sense that Chekov was telling the truth. "As much as I want to believe you, there's just no evidence to prove you right." He waited, expecting an answer. When he realised he wasn't going to get one, Jim tried to move the subject on a bit. "Before, you said you knew this klingon, how do you know him?" As he spoke, Pavel's expression turned dark and he looked half evil as the lights in the office dimmed.

"Yes sir, I know him." Chekov's voice was sour and unnaturally low. It left the captain with the impression he was venturing into a touchy subject. The air seemed like it was buzzing with electricity, the tension was so much. The tension dissipated in seconds as the doors slid open and Spock strode in.

Spock stood at ease, waiting for the captain to address him. Kirk tore his eyes away from Chekov's face long enough to give Spock his full attention. He tilted his head as a sign for Spock to announce his reason for coming in.

"Captain, ambassador Drogaff wishes to know why a potential court-martial case has not already being dealt with by a counsel."

"Mr Spock will you please go and tell the good ambassador that I am dealing with it now." Jim replied. When Spock remained where he was the captain tried again. "Mr Spock-"

"I heard you captain but, the ambassador also told me that if I should return with your word you are dealing with it, then he shall, and I quote, come in here himself and tell you what you are and are not going to do about it and when." Jim acknowledged the information simply by pulling his head away as if in distaste. Then as if on cue, the ambassador barged through the doors without knocking or announcing himself. He was obviously disgusted by what he saw he looked around the dingy office because he sneered.

"Have you found the culprit yet Cap-" the ambassador never finished what he was going to say. His eyes fell upon Pavel and filled with a burning rage, visible to captain and first officer alike. "You." He spoke with authority, a voice so deep it demanded instant respect. Jim and Spock turned and looked at Chekov, who had stood up and whose eyes seemed to possess a fury as-well. But the fury in Pavel's eyes was different, it wasn't a I've-got-authority-and-you-are-inferior fury like the ambassador, it was more like a pent up rage, years deep and was evidently something to do with the days incident. But that didn't matter now because there was going to be a show-down. It could be felt in the air. Before anything with serious consequences could unfold, Jim ordered Chekov back to his quarters pending investigation. They could tell that the ambassador was still fuming.

As if not wanting to appear to have lost his composure, the ambassador turned abruptly to captain Kirk and spoke to him. "So, was that the person responsible captain?" his voice sounded slightly high pitched and out of place but it gradually went back down to its normal pitch throughout the sentence. Kirk didn't know how to react so he simply nodded his head. "So why, are you not holding a court right now to sort this incident out?"

"Because it is unnecessary to hold a counsel for such a minor disturbance." Spock told the ambassador.

"Well, I must admit, we Klingons are much more serious about these sorts of incidents. Lack of punishment will be your Federation's downfall." The Klingon ambassador said, with a strange glee in his voice. "Ah well," he spoke with the same delight in his voice, as if the captain had done something he'd been waiting for all the time he'd been on the Enterprise. Whatever he was happy about, it unnerved the captain. Somewhere in this complex web, there was a break, some things didn't make sense.

_That was illogical of the ambassador_ Spock thought to himself as he walked speedily back to the bridge. The Vulcan entered the turbo lift at the end of the corridor. "Bridge" he said tersely. He was secretly fed up with having ambassador Drogaff on board_, "He interferes with the operation of this ship" _Spock thought to himself_. "He demands to know things that do not concern him and tries to run the ship. The sooner he goes, the better off we all will be." _Spock consoled himself with the thought that he was only here for ten more days. The doors slid open and Spock was pretending to be emotionless once again as he stepped onto the bridge and to his beloved workstation…

Pavel stormed angrily through corridors until he reached his quarters. He waited about 3 seconds too long for the doors to slide open and immediately suspected there was someone there, anticipating his arrival. He walked wearily into his quarters and looked around before his eyes settled onto the intruder. His fears melted as he recognised Sulu sat on his bed, gesturing for him to sit next him. Sulu studied Chekov's face before shaking his head at him.

"Why, just why Pav? What made you snap?" Sulu asked the younger man. He could read the ensign like a book and knew that it took one hell of an insult to make him fight like that. He watched closely for a reaction, and his heart went out. Chekov shrugged his shoulders and turned his face away. "Well, even if you don't want to talk about it now, just remember that there'll always be someone who'll listen alright?" Sulu started to get up as his friend slowly nodded his head. Sulu left the room and went back into his own. _"It's better to just leave him with his thoughts; he'll tell someone when he's ready."_

As Sulu left, Pavel got up and quickly locked the door to his quarters using an eye retina scanner. Basically, it would scan the person's eyes and alert Pavel when someone was about to enter, and he could decide if he wanted them to or not. Gamma shift had now started, which meant his half-brother was inspecting for his father, but he still felt uneasy, just with him being on the ship made Pavel feel unsafe. Vivid back flashes of what had happened last time finally made him decide that he wasn't even going to try and sleep. He couldn't predict when he would attack. Only one thing was for certain, he couldn't trust anyone.

After a few hours, there was a quiet alarm as the eye scanner went off, alerting Chekov that somebody was trying to get in. He leapt up, walked hurriedly over to the tiny computer screen that repeatedly flashed the name "Leonard H McCoy, Chief Medical Officer". Pavel thought quickly before making a decision to let the doctor in. He had been subject to the doctor's revenge before, and it was not pleasant. He clicked a few buttons and the doors slid open. As the doctor stepped inside, it became obvious that he was here on the captain's orders. No doubt the captain was trying to find out why he had punched the klingon animal he had been left with for a brother.

"Well I figured you might not be sleeping easy tonight." Dr McCoy spoke tentatively, as if he was expecting Chekov to attack him. He waited for a response but when he got none, he pressed on "Look, if there is something wrong, or something personal that you need to discuss, well erm, just, you can always come talk to me in sickbay, you can tell me anything, it would be in confidence and would be treated as such. Just it's never good to bottle it up, alright?" as he spoke his smile wavered. "Bones" (as Jim had nicknamed him) began to feel embarrassed by the whole situation. He really didn't know how to act around Chekov. To be perfectly honest, Bones thought the Russian was holding back and made an impulsive decision. "Look, I'm not leaving until you either tell me what's wrong, or say you'll come down to sickbay." Chekov's face twisted as if that was the worst thing Bones could have said to him. Chekov turned round to face him fully, and that's when the doctor saw the worry and stress in the young man's face.

"Doctor, I really can't tell you. I can't and won't tell anyone so please, don't ask."

Knowing that he'd received all he was going to get, no matter how long he stayed, McCoy respected Chekov's decision and started to leave. As he did, he added his last piece of medical advice.

"Just try and get some sleep because I think you'll find because of the ambassador, you might be up for court martial." Chekov silently nodded as Bones walked through the door…


	2. Chapter 2 Court Martial

**Chapter Two**

Court-Martial

By the time Jim had managed to get to bed, it had only been two hours before he had to get up again. The half- Klingon ambassador was already waiting outside his office by the time he got there. When Jim asked why the young man was there he replied "I am waiting for my lawyer to arrive. I will then take them directly to where the council will be held." The captain had to restrain himself from giving the klingon a lecture about respect. He entered the tiny office and tried to concentrate his mind. He had to be neutral from the moment he walked in to the meeting.

He called his senior officers into the office for a quick briefing of "the case". Dr McCoy and Mr Scott, the chief engineer, both came in and sat silently in two of the three chairs in a row. They waited a few minutes for Mr Spock to arrive. However when he did, he came in announced that it was unjustified if the prosecution had a lawyer and not the defendant. He then said that he was going to take this roll, with permission. Kirk gladly gave the Vulcan permission, recognising that he was doing this to try and save Chekov's career. After an extremely quick briefing, they all proceeded to the room they were using as court and took their places on the judge's bench.

Sulu and Uhura were both present in the court room as the captain, and the other seniors, entered. They both felt relieved when they saw Spock walking in with Chekov, but felt just as worried when they saw Oriel Shaw walk calmly in with the Klingons. Oriel Shaw was one of the best Star Fleet lawyers you could get. There was no way even Spock could beat her. Uhura felt nervous as a shiver ran up her back. The two parties obviously hated each other. She couldn't stand this! How could the captain just let that horrible ambassador tear apart his youngest crewmember's career? She buried her face in her hands and felt bitter tears begin to trickle down her face. Sulu put his arm around her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. He leaned into her and whispered gently into her ear;

"We'll just have to hope for the best. Now come on, the captain won't let that freak ambassador completely win, will he?" Uhura shook her head furiously. But she didn't think there was anything the captain could do.

Bones hated courts; he hated having to decide who was right. Sometimes it took years for evidence to be discovered, evidence that could have saved a wrecked man's life. But this court was different, this was asking them all to court martial another crew member. The counsel was supposed to have no connections with either party but the parties were undeniably connected with them. He looked across at Chekov and immediately could tell that he hadn't slept. The lines of worry were etched into his face and the black marks under his eyes made it clear that he was extremely tired. Bones told himself to snap out of it, he was neutral now; he couldn't make a decision until evidence had been supplied.

Spock stood calmly at the other end of the court room, opposite Oriel Shaw. He glanced back at Chekov and wished he hadn't. Spock fought an internal battle to keep his emotions under control; he wanted to shout at the captain for holding a court, for letting the ambassador practically run the ship. As his logic gained control once more, he began to think of arguments to prove Chekov innocent, but could think of none. He suddenly realised he was preparing to fight a losing battle…

Chekov had stayed up all night, fraught with worry and dread. However when the morning arrived he had found himself in a state of calmness, his mind had started to cool down, and he knew what the outcome of the court would be, so why should he worry? When the security system he had hotwired into his door opening mechanism suddenly went off, he wasn't scared, just curious. "_Who has the captain sent to get the truth out of me this time?" _Chekov wondered absent-mindedly. He didn't even look at the name; he just allowed them to enter. Spock strode confidently into the room. Chekov looked surprised to see the Vulcan in his quarters. Surely Spock was supposed to be at the briefing for the case? When he enquired, his commanding officer replied sternly "I have volunteered to act as a lawyer for you. Is there a problem?" Pavel's eyes opened wide in shock. He started to protest but Spock ignored it all. He walked calmly back out and lead the way to the courtroom.

"This court is now in session. Does any party have any objections with the counsel that has been selected?" the captain's voice brought silence in the room. When neither party replied, kirk sat down. Oriel started to speak openly after kirk's orders and Chekov's mind slipped the borders of reality once again…

The room started to buzz when the final break was announced. The final break was purely for the judges to piece together the evidence and decide which way they were going to vote. Chekov went immediately out of the room and raced through the corridors back to his quarters. All the evidence that had been supplied showed that there was no reason for him to have "seriously assaulted" a visiting ambassador's relative. It would only take the rest of break, then his career would be ended. A small blip-blip notified Pavel that someone was forcing the door open. He moved toward the door cautiously as the ambassador physically forced the door apart. Chekov leapt back in fear as the klingon lunged at his throat. Before he had a chance to react, Drogaff had lunged again, this time with improved accuracy. Chekov winced as he felt his knee cap being kicked and cracking into tiny pieces as he fell down. His attacker was not letting go of his throat and breathing became Chekov's main objective. There was nothing he could do as Drogaff kicked him over onto his stomach, collapsed his knee onto Chekov's neck and twisted his arm. He leaned slowly down until his mouth was next to Pavel's ear. The ambassador spat Russian words into his ear which meant "If you have tempted you fair captain to vote for you, you will know about it. You are going to go down, pathetic human." Chekov tried to twist free and as a result felt a heavy, metal chain smack twice into the back of his head. Blood ran down into his eyes as the klingon slowly released him. Before leaving, he took the liberty of crushing Pavel's wrist under his feet.

Pavel lay perfectly still for a few minutes before attempting to move. His vision clouded over as he tried to stand up. After a few moments he managed to limp into the bathroom that he had to share with Sulu. He quickly washed out the wounds on the back of his head before covering them so no-one would notice them. After, he washed away the blood that was on his face and uniform. He looked down at his arm and glanced at his knee and immediately wished he hadn't. What he saw made him want to vomit. His wrist was a mass of crushed bones with blood pouring out of it. He cleared up the blood and pulled his sleeve over it. Now it would pass for alright if anyone was looking. But Pavel had no idea what to do for his knee. It was literally backwards. There was a knock on the other adjoining door and Sulu called through that the final session was about to start.

"Coming!" Chekov grunted. When he heard Sulu leave he quickly stifled a shout of pain as he forced his knee the right way again. He tried putting his full weight on his leg and groaned in pain. He could stand on it as long as he moved his weight quickly. Pavel grimaced with every step but he managed to get to the court room on time.

Meanwhile…

Jim, for the first time ever, didn't know what to do. He desperately wanted to vote against the klingon and save Chekov, but there was no evidence to prove Chekov's innocence. As much as it was going to cost him, he would have to vote for the klingon. Jim wondered what the consequences would be if he did vote for Chekov. Well, he decided briskly, he was about to find out.

"Jim! What are you going to vote?" Bones came toward him quickly through the corridor, pausing to make sure nobody could over hear them. "Jim, who are you going to vote against? Knowing you, you're going to vote against the klingon aren't you?"

"Yes Bones, you can still read me like a book. Why?" a look of horror but also disappointment came into his oldest friend's face.

"Jim you can't be serious! That'd ruin your career as-well!" the doctor exclaimed. "Look, Jim, why don't you just close the case? You do have the power to just call it a minor incident and close the book! Me and Scotty have already spoken. We'd both back you up if you choose that." _Of course!_ Jim thought. He'd forgotten about that option.

"Alright Bones, alright. I'll do that then. Don't look so worried! It'll be fine." But Bones thought he sounded more like he was reassuring himself. They walked in silently and took their seats.

Spock had given them all the evidence he could find, but he had a feeling that it hadn't been enough to prove Chekov's innocence. His eyes flitted between the three officers who were to decide the ensign's fate. He thought it was illogical to even hold the investigation. After all, it wasn't the first time that a crew member had injured a visitor on the ship, but Spock could sense something else, underneath it all. An old earth saying now suddenly made sense to him "if you spill the beans then you open a whole can of worms." "_Logical! It actually is logical!" _That was Spock's last thought before the bell rang, announcing the final decision. Spock turned his eyes onto his captain and gave him his full attention as he started to speak.

"Well, we have had lots of evidence put before us today in this session and most of it points to one conclusion." Jim paused, watching the looks of disbelief creep into the faces of his crew before carrying on "but, after talking with my most senior officers," he gestured behind him at Bones and Scotty. "We have decided that this case is too minor and we choose to close it!" The people who were sitting around doing nothing but listening immediately showed their thoughts on Kirk's decision. He looked across at the prosecution. The Klingons looked outraged, but Oriel Shaw looked as though she would agree that the course that had been chosen was best. She smiled at the judges, shook hands with Mr Spock- all lawyers have to do this to show that there are no hard feelings- and walked back down to the hanger bay.

After shaking hands with Oriel, Spock also left the room for his own quarters. As he walked past the helm and navigation quarters, he noticed a miniscule speck of blood on the door. He looked down at the floor, more blood. He tried to override the access code to Chekov's quarters but he obviously had set up a secondary security system. He listened closely and sure enough, he heard the bleep of the alarm going off. Something was not right. Why would Chekov set up an extra system? He turned around sharply and walked towards the captain's office. He had to report this.

Jim and Bones couldn't believe what Spock was telling them.

"But, if Chekov was injured, he wouldn't try to disguise it would he?" Bones put in. He looked quizzically at his captain.

"Why should I know? There might be a reason; just like there's a reason he hit the klingon."

"Well Jim, you do know him better than me. I mean, you work closely with him."

"Spock, you work with him closer than I do. You ask him." The captain was obviously trying to shirk his responsibilities of checking all his crew were all right.

"Sir, may I remind you that it is part of your responsibilities as captain to check on the crew members aboard."

"Yes Spock I do know that. I am only carrying out orders from star fleet. At any costs, I must keep ambassador Drogaff happy and he's said that if he sees me near Chekov, there will be serious consequences."

"Is that really more important than the welfare of one of your crew?" As usual, Spock had got Jim in a position where he could not escape.

"According to star fleet, it is more important to keep him happy so he'll sign the peace treaty in Russia." Jim replied with a look of disagreement on his face. Spock raised one eyebrow which made Jim frown. "What is it Spock?" he asked.

"Captain, it is probably nothing. A coincidence."

"Spock, I'm ordering you to tell me what you think might be a coincidence." Even though Spock was probably right, Jim still outranked him.

"Sir, the klingon has travelled from Russia where he lives, to his home planet to discuss the terms of the treaty, to go back to Russia to sign it. Perhaps it is coincidence, but apart from us three, only Chekov knows where we are going. Russia is Chekov's home and he has become more agitated and restless since the course change." Bones fixed Spock with a frown before seeming to realise what he was saying.

"Are you seriously suggesting that Chekov is agitated because we're going to Russia? Spock, I don't think that Chekov would let that get in the way of his duty. Nobody else would!" Bones looked like he couldn't believe that Spock thought Chekov would put anything before his duty. "Spock! Chekov is one of the most loyal members of this crew, and certainly the best navigator this ship's seen. He wouldn't put anything before his-"

"Dr McCoy, you may be correct but, Chekov is hiding something. He hit the klingon for a reason; there is definitely blood outside his quarters. He has set up a security system so no-one can enter his quarters. That all suggests he is holding something back from us." Spock told the doctor. Bones looked taken aback by the part about the security system. Spock then realised he hadn't told them about it yet.

"He's set up a second security- Spock, why would he do that?" the captain looked as confused as Spock had felt when he'd realised.

"Jim, how did he do it? Only senior officers can do that." Bones put in.

"I do not know why he did it, but he was in my class for tactical and security training at the academy. He can easily hack a computer, putting in a pre-set up device would have been easy for him." Spock knew he would have to find out how Chekov really had done it, but for now, Chekov was in enough trouble…

As Pavel walked back in to his room, a sense of dread filled him. The case had been dropped, his half-brother would go running to his father, and Pavel would be dead. He would only have to wait about two hours before the ambassador would attack again. _"Unless… no. I can't tell them. It would endanger them as-well. That is __**not **__a possibility." _He told himself sternly. There was no way he was going to let him harm the rest of the crew. He lay down on his bed. His knee and arm were in agony and the sensible part of his brain told him to go straight to sickbay. He tried focusing his mind to ease the pain. But all he could think about was how ferocious the next attack would be. Fear filled his body once more as there was a knock at the door that joined onto the shared bathroom. He bolted up right and then tried to get up. He cried out as he put weight onto his shattered knee.

"Are you alright in there?" Sulu inquired; concern apparent in his voice.

"I'm fi-ne." he had to force the word out of his mouth. He knew he wouldn't have convinced his friend but he really didn't want him coming in.

"You don't sound so sure. Can I come in?" Sulu was not the best actor in the world. Pavel could tell there was someone else there and wondered if the Klingons had hurt him badly. However, when the doors opened, Sulu came in followed by the captain. As the doors slid shut, Pavel felt trapped. He knew he couldn't avoid questions now, but he couldn't answer them either. The two sat down opposite Chekov who looked at them wearily.

"Look," the captain started, he paused and glanced over his shoulder. "What's this?" he asked feigning general curiosity at the device hotwired into Chekov's door. When he received no answer, Jim walked calmly across the room toward the small screen. Sulu's eyes rested nervously on the captain as he investigated the instrument. Pavel waited for the captain to sit back down. Even though Kirk had just pretended to be interested, Pavel had noticed that his captain had sabotaged the security system. The room was silent until Kirk spoke again. "Well, erm," there was a moment's hesitation as the captain rolled his eyes toward the ceiling before they rested on Chekov. "Alright, I'm not going to mess around here. You're hiding something and all I ask is that you tell me what it is. Not because I think I should know, because I've never seen you so miserable and defeated and I want to help. Everyone wants to help. Just tell me now ok?" _tell me now ok?_ Pavel thought miserably. How he wished he could tell him. They must have seen the longing in his eyes because they both suddenly looked concerned and Sulu stood up and promptly left the room. Jim pressed on. He was going to get answers out of him at any costs. "What's wrong? You look like…" Jim didn't know any words to describe how the young ensign looked.

"Captain, I really wish I could tell you, but no amount of wishing is going to enable me to tell you."

"What?" although Chekov had been on the ship for the best part of the year, Jim still found it hard to tell what he was saying because of his heavy Russian accent.

"I wish I could tell you but I can't." Aha! Jim had found what he was looking for! _So there is a reason for it. All I need to do now is get Spock in here and he can mind-meld… _ Jim's thoughts got carried away as he realised how close he was to answers.

"Alright. But if that changes, tell someone! It doesn't have to be me or Spock, it doesn't matter, just tell somebody." He looked down as he stood up to leave and watched the younger man's reaction. He shrugged one shoulder stiffly and looked away. Jim spotted the perfect chance to ask about the blood. "Hey! Are you alright? You seem a bit well, stiff."

"Wha- no I'm fine. Why?" Chekov improvised quickly, turning his neck to face the captain.

"Nothing." Jim said, disappointed. "Now, if I were you, I'd get some sleep. I don't care what that ambassador thinks, I will expect you to be ready and on duty as usual alright?" Chekov smiled gratefully up at him as he walked out of the room. Pavel collapsed onto his bed and his eyes slowly closed…

Wham! Pavel woke with a gasp as the second blow hit his chest. He opened his eyes to see… nothing! He couldn't see! All the while the blows kept coming down relentlessly. Each one left a sharp stinging pain in his ribs. He shook his head wildly, why couldn't he see?! He was frightened and he suddenly felt sick as he realised he couldn't move! That bastard klingon must've snuck in when he was sleeping and tied him up. But then, why couldn't he see? He heard evil laughter break through the heavy thuds crashing into his chest. Then a cold voice spoke to the attacker who ceased hitting for a few minutes.

"No no, my dearest son! You are not doing it hard enough to wind him! Let me show you!" A shiver went up Pavel's back as he realised that that was his half-brother. That meant the blows were about to get one hell of a lot harder. Sure enough, the next blow made him feel like lungs had been crushed as he struggled to breathe. The next minutes passed with blows reigning down without even a break in-between each one. Then a sharp pain shot through his head and stayed there. He shouted out in pain once before feeling a rough hand cup over his mouth. As he tried to get out of the bindings that held him, the pain intensified to a point where it hurt to breathe. There was a flash of blinding light and then nothing. He could still feel the Klingons hitting him; he could still hear their evil laughter echoing around the room. Blackness overwhelmed him completely as one blow caused an ear-splitting _crack_ through the room…

There was a sudden uneasy silence as the door slid open and something came across the room. Chekov fought the blackness as he heard hurried footsteps coming toward him. He felt whatever held his wrists together being tugged off and then the same feeling all over various parts of his body. He felt one being removed from around his head. After that, he felt whoever had found him lifting him up and carrying him out of the room…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Uncharacteristic

Dr McCoy had been expecting Jim to walk in with news about Chekov. Instead he got Spock almost running through the doors holding what looked like an unconscious body. Bones jumped back in surprise to let Spock pass. Quickly recovering his wits he rushed through to where Spock had gone moments before. He paused trying to take in what he saw in front of him. Chekov- what used to be Chekov- was lying on the isolation bed. Spock had backed away for him to work but he had no idea where to start. There were so many bruise marks on his chest. It was literally just a mass of bruises and blood. His shirt was completely soaked in blood and was hardly distinguishable as yellow. There were patches of white where his ribs were showing through. There were other visible wounds on him as-well. Spock was looking at him expectantly and he burst into action. Running on total instinct, Bones grabbed a roll of bandages and handed some to Spock. "We need to apply pressure to the wound, I need some help. Come on!" Spock leapt forward and started dabbing a bandage into the mass of blood that used to be the ensign's chest. By the time they had cleaned the wound, Chekov had lost way too much blood. Bones used a machine to stich up the original cuts -which were quite small -before replacing the lost blood. How long had that been? It had felt like minutes but Bones knew it had been longer. Much longer.

"Doctor, I think there may be some more wounds that he has temporarily treated." Spock told McCoy with what almost sounded like concern in his voice.

"I think it's best if we leave him now. He's obviously gone through trauma. Leave him, we'll inform the captain." Spock nodded his agreement as they walked out.

Pavel's eyes fluttered open gently. All he saw for a few seconds was bright white, everywhere. After a few moments, his eyes strayed downwards onto a dark shadow. As it came into focus, he recognised the blurry image of the captain standing over him. Where was he?

"Hello. Nice to see you again!" a familiar voice said with a tinge of relief in it. Pavel felt an ice-cold hand come down on his forehead. It made him realise how hot he really felt. Pain ran through his head and chest as he shot up in the bed. "Whoa! It's alright! Doctor's orders: Don't strain yourself. Personally I'd say that it would be painful for you if you decide to move really quickly."

"Where am I?" Chekov croaked. His voice was cracked and it felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. There was a pain in his the back of his head.

"Well, don't you recognise it?" the captain asked, with humour in his voice. As he slowly turned his head and looked around the room, he saw Spock and Sulu stood in a corner.

"Sickbay?" Chekov hazarded a guess. He gave a weak smile to his captain and got the same in return. "But why-"

"Let me anticipate that question. Why are you here? Well Spock tried to enter your quarters and there was silence so he overrode the door and got in. He found you on your bed with blood pouring out of some cuts on your chest. Someone had bound and blindfolded you as-well. Dr McCoy reckons that if you had been left much longer, you could have bled to death." The information hit him like a lead weight round his neck. _You could have bled to death…_ the words repeated themselves in his head. It didn't seem real. There was no way he had come near to death. He was about to say he didn't think that was right but the look in Kirk's eyes was enough to silence him. Kirk stood up to leave. As he did, he added "Right, I'm probably needed on the bridge by now. I'm coming down later but _you _need to rest. Can you do that?" Chekov nodded slowly as all three of them left the room.

He couldn't risk staying here, he couldn't risk staying anywhere for long. Sickbay was packed with nurses and patients. Not that that would stop them. They'd happily kill thousands of people if it meant they could transform someone's life into hell. All they cared about was being dominant. As he lay back down he knew as soon as this place was emptied, he was leaving.

Dr McCoy came in and checked on him every hour except sometime near the evening. (He could tell what time it was because of the lights which were kept as similar as earth conditions as possible.) Nurse Chapel came in instead and did the routine check. Chekov asked where McCoy was and his answer was he had been called to the bridge. As she went around her work, she started humming. He half recognised the song, but couldn't put a name to it although he had a feeling he should know it. When the nurse had left, he tried sitting up. The pain that seemed to rip his chest apart was bearable if he didn't move too quickly. He tore off his ragged shirt and pulled a new one over his head. Nobody challenged him as he walked out of sickbay and back to his quarters.

As soon as Jim had reached the bridge, he knew things were not going to be as relaxed as usual. Even though Chekov's replacement had already worked this shift for five days, the andorian being present still filled the air with icy tension. Jim sat down in his chair and immediately wished he had stayed in sickbay for longer. He felt like he was walking toward the edge of a knife blade. Ambassador Drogaff walked onto the bridge with a stern expression. He feigned surprise poorly when he saw the new andorian at the navigation post. "Captain?" he asked sweetly "Where is your usual navigator? I was hoping to have a talk with him."

"He was unfortunately taken to sickbay five days ago." Jim replied. He didn't even try to disguise the coolness in his voice.

"Ah well. I will go and see him there then." The ambassador still spoke gently and Jim couldn't tell if his tone was genuine or fake. He suddenly put two and two together. _They seemed to hate each other in the office, Drogaff then forced a court-martial and now, he wanted to talk to him. He could be the attacker… _Jim thought quickly before speaking.

"Ah erm well, you can't because he's got a contagious fever and I wouldn't want you to get it. Its life threatening." The ambassador's face fell dramatically. He walked calmly out of the bridge and into the turbo lift without speaking again.

The rest of the day passed quickly without any action. It was nearing the time when gamma shift would be starting when there was a blinding flash and plumes of smoke came pouring out of the navigation console. Both Sulu and the andorian were sent flying backward with cuts to their heads and arms. Jim rushed in and was aided by Spock. Thankfully neither person was seriously harmed although they did seem a bit drowsy. Lieutenant Uhura quickly used the ship-wide intercom to contact Dr McCoy. When he reached the bridge, the two seemed fine with only a few minor cuts and burns. By the time he had finished dressing them, Bones looked about ready to hit someone. Speil, the andorian had given him nothing but grief over a small cut on his forearm. Apparently andorian skin was more sensitive and so it hurt more. Bones had ignored his whines and carried on with his job. Engineers stormed the bridge to fix the console as the people who were on gamma shift entered.

As the crew piled out of the bridge, they received a message from sickbay. Nurse Chapel's voice came over the intercom softly "Sickbay to Dr McCoy. You are needed here immediately."

"I'm on my way now Nurse." Bones replied. As the turbo lift stopped to let the doctor out, Jim pushed through as-well much to everyone's surprise. When the doors had closed again Bones looked across at his friend with a quizzical expression.

"I told Chekov I'd see him again later. Besides I want to ask him if he knows who could have possibly attacked him."

"Jim, I am your oldest friend and I can tell exactly what you're thinking. Ever since that court-martial, you've not liked the ambassador. Are you seriously thinking he attacked Chekov?"

"Bones, we have established two things here. One, the two Klingons and Chekov know each other. Two, none of them are going to tell us why, or how. We need to do a little investigation of our own." Jim looked across at his friend as they turned into sickbay. They were greeted by the nurse who looked like she thought they were going to kill her. "Are you alright Nurse? You look like you've been crying." Jim asked politely. The nurse dropped her head into her hands and her shoulders started quaking. "What's the matter?" they both asked.

"It's completely my fault! I did the routine check on Chekov and then carried on doing the paperwork in the office."

"Yes. So what's so bad?" Bones asked genuinely concerned but confused.

"Well, I went back at the next hour and…" her face dropped as she found herself unable to carry on. "And, and he's gone!"

"What do you mean he's gone?" Jim asked bewildered by the nurse's hysterical manner.

"I mean, he has got up and walked out of sickbay." Chapel said, now taking deep breaths to calm herself down. She looked up at them with a worried expression. "I should've been able to hear him. I certainly should have realised when the monitor showed nothing."

"Hey! Don't get all upset over it. Everyone makes mistakes once in a while. It's not really your fault is it? Even if you had realised sooner, what could you have done eh? Running out of sickbay to find him by yourself wouldn't have helped. What if there had been a disaster hmm? Then Dr McCoy would've been relying on you down here wouldn't he? You did the right thing." Jim spoke softly to the nurse while Bones went off to look if Chekov had left anything; an indication of if his disappearance was intentional. When Christine seemed to be calmer, Jim straightened up. Using the intercom, he set up a ship-wide search for Chekov, but he had a feeling that Chekov would easily evade the search.

Spock had left the bridge for his quarters and had just arrived outside his door when he heard the order to search for Chekov. Spock frowned, thoughts whizzing through his mind. He silently sighed before backtracking himself toward Chekov's quarters. As he reached the door, he strained his ear and remained silent. There was no sound from within the room. Spock headed off toward Jim's quarters. He wanted to know what had happened. It might give an indication as to where Chekov had gone.

Chekov had reached his quarters easily enough, but upon his arrival, he realised that sooner or later, somebody would come looking, and he had gone straight to the most obvious place. Pavel quickly looked around the room. There was nothing here that hadn't been before. At least **he** hadn't come yet. Glancing behind him for the last time, he turned and went back out of the room. He ran through the ship ignoring the pain in his chest. He reached a Jeffries tube that nobody used anymore and clambered down it. It brought him out exactly where he wanted to be. The lower decks didn't have any security which meant that anyone could get in and hide down there. However, he reached the doors and Mr Scott was there. He turned round as the ensign stopped short.

"Chekov!" he cried out. For once, there was actually joy in his voice instead of worry or relief. "I thought you were in sickbay. What are you doing here? You know you're not supposed to be down here!" completely ignoring Mr Scott's questions, Pavel replied:

"I need to go in there. Please." He looked up into the Scottish man's face. His eyes told him that Scotty didn't trust him.

"Why do you need to go in there laddie?" his voice was full of mistrust as-well.

"Please! I can't be seen! I need to go in there!" it was a desperate attempt and Scotty was starting to piece together the puzzle.

"You're supposed to be in sickbay aren't you?" he asked, staring at Chekov with eyes that demanded an answer. Pavel glanced nervously over his shoulder before trying to walk past. He could hear someone coming. "Oh, no you don't laddie!" Scotty said as he blocked Chekov's path. Acting on instinct, he twisted Scotty's arm onto his back and then punched. At the same time, Pavel kicked into Scotty's knee caps and pushed him forward. Bones cracked as Scotty fell and Chekov realised what he had done. He backed away into the room as Scotty writhed on the floor in agony. Now he really had blown it. He was asking for a court-martial now. _How could I be so stupid? All I needed to do was make a cover story and he would have let me in. Now I've just busted his knee and wrist and left him screaming on the floor. Why? _Chekov thought as he backed across the room. He walked into the wall and sank to the floor. He wrapped his arms around his knees and started shaking uncontrollably…

_Curse Chekov for knowing his way around the ship so well!_ Jim thought as he went down the same corridor for the fifth time. He had wondered around the ship absent-mindedly for the past two hours looking for the Russian ensign. Now he was actually quite worried as to his where-abouts. "I'll look down here, you look down in engineering." He murmured to Bones. Bones nodded before heading off to engineering. Jim really was worried now. The whole ship had been looking now for two hours, he should have at least being seen by now. As he went up the corridor he walked past Sulu. "Any luck?" he asked hopefully. Sulu shook his head before carrying on walking. Jim sighed as he took another step.

Bones seriously doubted Chekov would come anywhere near engineering. Scotty was down there and everyone knew that Scotty could find anyone as long as he knew they were in engineering. But still he carried on. He was nearing a bend when he heard a strange noise. It sounded like someone crying in pain. He picked up speed as he rounded the bend. He was stopped in his tracks when he saw Scotty lying on the floor, with one arm holing his knees. His eyes settled on the doctor and a look of relief came into his face. "Doctor, I think he's broke my knee, I can't move it." Bones looked down at his knee and saw what Scotty meant. He called a medical team and waited until they'd taken Scotty to sickbay before entering the room that he had been in front of.

Bones stepped in tentatively as the doors slid open. He got to the middle of the room and still couldn't see Scotty's attacker. He hoped to god they wouldn't find Chekov in a similar state. It never occurred to him that Chekov could have attacked Scotty. There was a sudden sob from the corner of the room. Bones frowned as he approached. Why would someone be crying? He looked down and saw Chekov hunched in the corner, face buried in his knees which had his arms wrapped round them.

"You!" He screamed at the unsuspecting ensign. "You did that to Scotty for no reason! What is wrong with you?!"

He looked down at Chekov as he leapt out of his skin with fear. He hadn't known the doctor was there. He backed into the wall as Bones lunged at his throat. He was hauled to his feet by the collar of his shirt. The fury in Dr McCoy's face was inescapable. Chekov couldn't bring himself to look into his eyes. "Answer me!" the doctor shouted in Chekov's face. "Why?! What has he ever done to you? Tell me now!"

Pavel quivered and shook his head blindly. When Bones realised that meant "no I won't tell you" he was slammed into the wall twice before the rough hand on his collar let go and he slumped to the floor. "I want an answer! You will answer me now Chekov!" They both looked sideways as the door opened again and Spock and Jim walked in.

"Bones! Bones, what's going on?" Jim asked bewildered as he took in the scene. Chekov was practically hugging the wall, not daring to move with his hands sheltering his head. Dr McCoy was standing over him, looking like he was ready to release hell itself.

"I'll tell you what's going on!" He growled, not taking his eyes off Chekov. "I've just come down here and found Mr Scott outside this room with both his knee caps broken and his wrist snapped. Then-"

"I didn't mean to hurt him that much!" A small voice blurted out from the floor.

This just seemed to enrage the doctor even more. **"You didn't mean to do it!?"** he shrieked **"You didn't mean to do- what sort of an excuse is that?" **Chekov flinched at every word that came out of McCoy's mouth. Spock swiftly nerve-pinched the doctor before he seriously hurt Chekov or himself.

"What exactly is going on ensign?" Spock looked expectantly at Chekov who was still quivering on the ground. He looked up at Spock as if he expected to be killed.

"You ordered a ship-wide search so I had to hide. This is the best place because no-one comes down here."

"That does not account for what happened to Mr Scott." Spock told him.

"I really didn't mean to- I just- I'm sorry." Chekov stuttered.

"That does not account for Mr Scott's injuries." Spock said.

"Well, I needed to get in and he wouldn't let me so…" he trailed off. It was needless to say what happened next. Jim stepped forward and slowly crouched down so he was on the same level as Chekov. From here, he could see the tearstains, worry and dread on his face.

"What I want to know is why you bunked out of sickbay in the first place." The captain spoke softly to him in an attempt to calm him. The young Russian looked up into his face. He was frowning slightly. "Well? Is there a reason?" the older man asked. He watched for any reaction from Chekov but only got a sharp nod before Chekov tucked his head under his arms. "Right. Tell me. Now!" Chekov's eyes searched his captain's face desperately after his head had come back up. Jim sighed and turned his head to the side. "Don't tell me. You can't. Why do you insist you can't tell us? Don't you realise that we just want to help? This is just so stupid! Damn it! You have already been attacked! Don't you want us to find your attacker?" the captain sounded exasperated. Chekov lowered his head again as the captain rose and walked across the room. "Leave him Spock. He doesn't want our help."

"Captain, are you going to leave him here?" Spock asked. He was expecting the captain to come back to his senses because of his question but instead he got something none of them expected.

Jim walked back toward them and picked up Bones. "Alright. I won't leave him here if it upsets you Spock. He can spend the night in the brig. That decision is final." He spoke in a hard tone and Pavel knew that it wasn't going to get nicer if he protested. He stood up shakily, and followed Spock to the brig in silence...

Jim waited next to his friend in sickbay. He knew what it felt like to have been Vulcan nerve-pinched. He knew that when Bones woke up his neck would sting like hell. He wondered if he was being too harsh on Chekov. His mind was arguing with itself. _You made the decision on the spur of the moment. Was it the right one? Of course it was the right one. I tried being nice and helpful, if he doesn't want it, then he gets what anyone else would get. It won't be one night he's staying in that brig. _He sighed and rubbed his head as Bones woke up.

"What the- Jim, what happened? I heard you saying something to Spock and then… what did you say to him?" Jim looked across at his oldest friend. He was now certain his decision had been right.

"I told Spock to leave Chekov and he didn't think it was logical to leave him there so, I erm," Jim faltered.

"What did you do Jim?" Bones prompted.

"I was angry with Chekov so I ordered Spock to put him in the brig." The doctor's mouth fell open in shock as Jim finished his sentence. "Look, I've got to be honest; he does deserve it after what he did to Scotty." He hastily added as he stood up and rushed out.

Bones looked after the captain, completely bewildered by his behaviour. The job was certainly taking its toll on everyone_. The next time we get to a planet, I'm authorizing shore leave for everyone, no matter what! _The doctor thought absent-mindedly as he got up and went to check on Scotty.

Meanwhile…

Spock led the way in silence and halted only when they reached the brig. He picked up the key and unlocked the door. However, he couldn't bring himself to open it. _It is logical to do this, but this is not like the captain. Perhaps he is under stress. _Spock thought to himself. Inside, his emotions were trying to reach the surface as he swung the door open. He watched as the young ensign walked calmly into the brig and he shut the door and locked it. As he walked away, he realised he'd left the keys there. He turned round and scooped them up before setting off for his quarters once again. He reached his quarters just as the captain charged into him. Jim didn't even stop to say sorry before he was on his way again. _Odd,_ Spock thought as he walked into his Vulcan designed room. _It is most unlike the captain. He needs more rest._

Chekov walked quickly to prevent the pain in his knee and chest from reaching its climax before it died down again. As they reached the brig he stopped for Spock to open the door. He heard the lock click, and expected the door to swing open immediately after but Spock paused for a few seconds before opening the door. He walked in calmly and listened to the door slam behind him, shutting him in complete darkness for the night. He heard Spock pick up the keys and then walk off. Something like electricity shot through his knee and he collapsed onto the floor in a heap. He gasped in pain. Why had that happened? He glanced down at his knee. It had twisted itself sideways and had locked. There was no way Pavel was going to be able to do anything about it. The best he could do was get to sickbay as soon as he was let out. _If only the captain hadn't been so angry, he would have seen sense instead of sticking me in this dump for the night. I wonder why he wants to help so much anyway, and how he tolerated my punching that hard-headed idiot half-brother I've got._ Pavel thought as he tried to move toward the rest bunk. It was only now he started to look around the small room. The rest bunk was about the right size for a child and it had been dumped unceremoniously in the corner of the small, smelly cell. He knew hardly anyone had been in this brig, but if they ever had, they had been left in here for weeks without any way to be hygienic. He realised that the captain would go back on his word and would leave him in here for longer than one night. He screwed up his face as he tried to move his knee toward him. A shadow fell across the only source of light- the keyhole. The door clicked open and the Klingons walked in. His face fell in horror when he saw what they were carrying. He could barely see their faces but he could see that they were grinning evilly at each other. He tried in vain to back away from his step- family but they kept at him.

They kept backing him up like two collies herding sheep until they reached the wall. Now Pavel knew he was trapped. There was no way to escape, not with his knee how it was. "What do you want from me?" he asked wearily. He got no reply, not that he had expected one. Instead he got both Drogaffs running at him. They pinned him to the wall of the cell and wouldn't let him move. When he spoke again, one of them- he couldn't see which- punched him in the stomach until he was bent double. They then tumbled him into some sort of bag and quickly tied the end before he could do anything about it.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

Abduction

"The ambassador is beaming down to the planet with his son now, captain." Spock told Jim. They were both on the bridge. Jim looked across at his first officer and nodded.

"Right. Shall we go and see him off?" he asked to anyone who was listening. Him and Spock stood up and walked off the bridge together. They didn't have a choice in the matter. If they had, they would have acknowledged the fact that he was leaving as a signal to start a party! Kirk took the lead as they entered the transporter room. They both went and stood behind the console where two redshirts were beaming down the ambassador's possessions. "I hope you found your stay on the Enterprise enjoyable and that you have no serious complaints about any member of the crew or their conduct." It was a standard leaving speech that every captain had to know. Jim was shocked when ambassador Drogaff came forward and spoke to him.

"Well, I would like to list ways in which my stay could have been made, more endurable, but erm, let's get to business. That young man that hit my son, what is happening to him?" he said it in a genuine enough tone but Jim still didn't trust him.

"He is being punished; you don't have to worry about that." Jim replied with an edge to his voice. He was obviously still outraged that Chekov hadn't let him help. Jim glanced at Spock momentarily who just returned his stare.

"Ah, well. That's everything. It was nice to have met you captain Kirk." He said as he walked onto the beaming pad where his son was stood waiting. They politely waited until the yellow columns of molecules had disappeared before leaving for the bridge.

At the end of the shift, Spock went up to the captain and asked if he was going to let Chekov out of the brig. "Do you want to let the whole ship know where Chekov is?" kirk asked angrily. "As far as anyone else is concerned, he is confined to his quarters. Got it Spock?"

"Yes captain. I was unaware that he was only confined to quarters." Spock improvised quickly. Sulu was approaching them with an exasperated expression on his face.

"How long is Chekov going to be confined for captain?" he asked. He sounded as if he'd just had a huge argument with someone.

"Does it concern you Mr Sulu?" the captain asked him. His tone told the crew that his patience was running thin.

"Not directly, but I cannot work with his replacement at all." He said as he gestured behind him toward the navigator who had replaced the Russian.

"Why does that matter with your duties?"

"Well, it doesn't, but, erm, you once told me that the helm and navigation need to be able to co-operate in any situation, or the ship won't run. Well, to be frank, I can't work with him, and you've noted yourself that the ship isn't running like it usually does."

Kirk took this in for a minute. He remembered only too well the day he had told Sulu that. He had just appointed him as permanent helmsman and he had been looking for a new navigator seeing as Riley had been transferred to the Farragut. He'd told Sulu that he needed to choose a navigator from a list of names he should know, and he needed to get along with him. Sulu had looked at the names for about a minute before he'd chosen Chekov. Jim told himself that memory lane was closed. He needed to think about the problem. He knew the solution, but wasn't prepared to let Chekov out of the brig. He looked at Sulu and sighed.

"I'll see what I can do. Alright?" Kirk gave a small smile to Sulu as he walked off. He looked back at Spock who spoke freely now they were alone.

"Captain, with your permission, I will go and check on him. He was in quite a state when he went in." kirk had a silent chuckle to himself. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Spock," he started, laughter written all over his face, "You know you don't have to ask! Just go!" kirk smiled at the Vulcan. Sometimes Spock underestimated his rights as a first officer. Spock briefly nodded before heading toward the brig.

_Well, at least the captain is back to himself. He must've finally seen sense. _Spock thought as he came up to the brig. He still couldn't see the logic in leaving Chekov in the brig. It had been five days now. Nobody had even thought to check on him. Spock almost felt sorry for him. _Snap out of it_, he told himself. _That would be showing emotion, and that is illogical. _Spock walked silently around the corner and unlocked the door. He peered into the dark cell to see…

"Spock to captain, you are immediately needed here." He spoke into the ship wide intercom and then waited for Jim to appear…

"What do you mean he's gone Spock?" Jim asked as he rounded the bend and stopped in front of his science officer. Jim could hardly believe that Chekov had found a way to break out. The brig had been tested by Spock. If he couldn't break out, no-one could.

"I mean, he is not in there anymore." Spock said in a matter-of-fact tone. Jim rolled his eyes and looked around the cell. Much to his surprise, Spock was right. There was nobody here. But there were no clues as to how he got out either. Everything was intact, not a thing out of place. It didn't even look as if he had been in here at all. He looked round at Spock, the confusion plain on his face.

"Could Bones have taken him out? On medical grounds?" Jim asked his first officer.

"Negative captain. I have already spoken to the doctor and he claims he hasn't left sickbay or ordered anyone to release him." Spock was surprised the doctor hadn't objected to Chekov being shut in there. He usually demanded that anyone, crew or not, was not left in the brig for more than six hours because it was full of diseases just waiting to be caught. He looked at the captain as he inspected the brig for the second time. "He has definitely not broken out. Unless… captain somebody on the outside could have aided him." A look of outrage crossed Jim's face.

"Spock, nobody knows he was here! Who would have helped him anyway?" Jim spoke with anger in his voice_. I trusted Chekov with my life! I can't believe he'd repay my trust like this!_ One part of his mind thought. Another part thought differently. _Well he obviously has! I should find him and just lock him up in shackles! That way he couldn't do anything else! Or I could let him go. He'd eventually die! That's what he deserves after what he's done!_

Jim tried to push the last thought away. Chekov had his reasons and, knowing the Russian, they were probably very good reasons that would make anyone else do the same. If only Chekov had told someone but no, he had kept it locked up inside him. Jim refocused his mind. He had to find him now! Even if Jim felt betrayed, Chekov was a part of his crew and he needed to be located. "Spock, I need you to set up search teams through-out every section of the ship. They need to be in groups, never one on their own, and they need to be on constant guard. If Chekov is on the ship, he is going to be hiding so send out scouts as-well." Jim said. It felt strange, giving out orders to hunt down one of his most trusted crew members.

"Yes Captain, when do they start?" Spock asked. At least Jim could always count on Spock.

"Immediately, Spock, we need to find him fast."

Chekov knew he stood no chance of getting away until he was off the ship. After that, his main problem would be getting back to the ship. After what felt like hours, the end of the bag was opened slightly. The gap was only small enough for him to breathe through. His half-brother leaned over the hole and looked down on him, a horrible smile stuck on his face.

"We're leaving now!" he said sweetly. "And if you dare give away that you're in here, you will know about it!" he continued, his tone getting less civilised with every word he uttered. "I don't suppose you remember how tragically your father died do you? Only being four and that." His voice was light but Pavel understood the meaning. They would kill him if he dared to try and attract any attention. His bother laughed hollowly before shutting out daylight once again.

Pavel could still hear them talking loudly about a bomb. He wasn't frightened; they were only trying to scare him into doing what they wanted. He felt them shoving the bag into another case. After that he couldn't hear anything. The bag he was in was picked up suddenly and Pavel had to really focus to avoid chucking up. The bag was placed gently onto the beaming pad and left. He heard the captain saying goodbye to the ambassador. Doubts if he was doing the right thing came into his head. He was so close to being discovered. If only Kirk would hear him if he tried to speak. He decided not to. The bomb could be real and if it was, it would wipe out the entire room. He couldn't risk that. If anything happened to the captain because of him he would never forgive himself. He stayed absolutely still until he felt the familiar sensation of beaming.

As soon as they appeared on earth, Pavel started to kick out. He was determined to get out of this bag. Sure enough, they let him out straight away. He fell onto soft green grass. He was surrounded by trees. A few metres in front of him, there was a busy main road. Just off to one side was a large bush and in front of it, an ageing woman, on one knee. She was praying. She took a small box out of a small green bag that was sat next to her on the grass before gesturing for them to go closer. The Klingons grabbed the back of Pavel's shirt in their fists and dragged him to his feet. They pushed him forward and he took an awkward step with his dislocated knee. After about three minutes, they reached the woman who came toward them with her arms outstretched.

"Oh my boy! My dear child! You remembered to come back! My little boy has flown home! It's wonderful to see you child!" she spoke fluent Russian at a really quick pace. After seven years away from his homeland, Pavel found it hard to understand. It was then that he started to recognise the sad smile, the soft baby blue eyes and the long auburn locks that fell loosely around her face.

"Mother!" Pavel gasped, all the features tugging at his memories. "What are you doing here?" he still couldn't quite believe the woman standing in front of him was the same person who'd raised him. When he had been four, before the "accident", her face had been soft and beautiful; the only lines had been lines of joy and laughter, gathered around her eyes. Every time he'd looked into her eyes, they had been laughing, full of happiness and just enjoying life as it came. Her dazzlingly white skin had been like touching silk and it had always smelled fresh and clean, like a woman's flesh should. He tried to take in all the changes. Her once dazzling eyes were now faded and the spirit in them, the flame of her life, had been crushed, there was nothing there anymore. They were just empty windows. The colour of her hair had started to fade to grey and her smile, her smile had been sad and lonely since the day of the accident. She'd never quite got over it fully.

"It has been twenty years, my love." She spoke softly as she reached up and gently touched her surviving son's face, just grazing his cheek. Then she turned round to a mass congregation of people. Pavel recollected some faces from his child-hood and others, he was quite certain he had never met before. Many of the people held bouquets of flowers, with messages tagged on the side of them. "Twenty years ago to this day," she told the group of people, "we shared a tragic loss, a loss, so deep, we will never forget. On this day, the 23rd of November, Andrei Chekov, a dear friend, father and husband, lost his life in a terrible car accident on this road. So today, we gather here, together, to remember his life and all that it meant, to him, and to the people that were his very soul, us. Here we stand today, to spread one more handful of his ashes on the wind, and to remember. We remember the good times only, none of the bad. We shall always remember his duties to his country and what he did for this village and the people in it!" after she had finished speaking, there was a two minute silence which Pavel hated. Whenever the silence came on this day, he was overwhelmed by the terror etched deep in his memory. _This same piece of earth, where he was standing now, twenty years ago. Pitch black surrounding him, he had trusted the klingon. He was guiding Pavel home. They had reached the road. They stopped. His car had come down the road at a sensible speed. He turned his head to look at the other side of the barrier. "Stop!" he cried out…_

The whole group of people repeated the last line. Pavel couldn't get the words out. They jammed in his throat. This was too disturbing. He had to get away. When all the people had laid flowers and cards or whatever memoirs they were leaving had returned into one group, his mother, Larisa, gently took the lid off the small, hand-crafted wooden box and left it on the ground. Her hand was visibly shaking as she removed one handful of ash and replaced the lid. She gently scattered it over the bush, the cards, and flowers that were laid right up to the roads edge. Larisa bent her head low as she paid her respects. On any other day of year, he would have been able to mourn his father. But not today. On the ship, he would just be withdrawn and silent for four days, as a mark of respect, only breaking it if he had to. Most of the crew wouldn't question it. If any of the senior officers had ever questioned it, Sulu had quickly caught on to the situation and had explained it as Russian grieving. If there was one person on board that hadn't got over how he remained silent, it was the captain. He tried not to think about the enterprise. Knowing he would never work on her again made him even more depressed. His eyes scanned over the flowers and cards quickly, he was only looking for those with one name, his brother's. Piotr Chekov, one of Pavel's only two secrets. He saw a couple of cards being laid down with his name on them. He knew Piotr would disapprove of this, he always hated anything for him but that's why Pavel never let him escape his thoughts.

Pavel imagined what he would say to him here now. _Probably something like, "hello my brother, I'm not gonna stay long, this makes me too depressed. Just think before you do anything and see me before you go again." then he'd turn to go then add "and don't trust the Klingon. Never trust the Klingon." _he smiled at the thought.

He looked up at his friends and long lost family. Pavel started to move away he couldn't bear this at all. He turned sharply, the Klingons were nowhere in sight. Where were they? He heard screams of shock and anger mingle with each other from behind him. _What the hell is going on?_ He thought as he whirled around. The sight before him was one he never wanted to see again. Children and parents running, screaming manically. The grass was stained blood red. The Klingons were hacking away with blunt knives.

"You klingon bastards!" Pavel shouted in anger before running toward them…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Missing

Sulu sighed when he heard the report about the search groups and scouts. _Why would he have to go and break out of confinement? Anyone would think he wanted to be kicked out of the federation!_ He thought miserably. Sulu ignored the pounding headache he had because he had argued with the navigator all day. Focusing his mind back on his job, Sulu carried on walking with a new spring in his step. If Chekov was going to be found, it was in a room just around the corner. It was a disused rec. room. It had been scorched during battle and nobody had ever bothered to repair it. Coming to think of it, it was even better than engineering to hide away in. Sulu walked through the doors hesitantly, he didn't know what to expect. If Chekov was hurt, if he was slowly bleeding to his death… no. He had to be positive. Even Chekov- who was notorious for not going to sickbay- would go there if he knew he was badly bleeding. He walked to the centre of the room. Nothing. It was empty. Just as he turned around to leave, Scotty came through the doors.

"What are you doing in here Mr Sulu?" he asked politely. Sulu looked around the room one last time. All hope of finding his best friend was now gone for Sulu. He had looked everywhere he could think of that Chekov would go.

"I was looking for Chekov sir. I thought, well, not many people come in here, you know, he could've been in here but he's not." The Scott frowned at Sulu.

"Has no-one told you? Mr Chekov is not on the ship. We are heading back to our last destination to look for him with the ship's scanners." Sulu's mouth fell open in shock.

"No sir, nobody told me. But sir, where was our last destination?" Sulu looked hopefully at Scotty. Only four people had known where they had been going for the past two months.

"If you swear, you must not tell anyone else! And do not give the captain the impression that you know." Sulu nodded eagerly. He would do anything to know where they were headed.

"We're going home. Or rather, Chekov's home. Russia." Sulu's eyes opened wide. _So that's maybe why Chekov was acting so irritated and strange. Maybe it was because he wanted to go home and he knew we wouldn't be stopping to have shore leave or anything._ Sulu thought to himself.

"Thank-you sir." Sulu spoke quietly as he walked past the commander and out of the room.

Scotty had been on his way to his quarters when he'd passed the deserted recreational room. Nobody came there after it had been obliterated in a recent explosion. He walked passed it, completely ignoring it. _Wait!_ He thought suddenly taking a few steps back. _Why are the doors open? What in the name of Satan is going on?_ He stepped in, his human curiosity getting the better of him. Sulu was stood in the middle of the room looking around him. He turned around abruptly when Scotty addressed him. Sulu looked surprised to see the engineer in here. Then again, Scotty knew that some people sometimes set up parties in here; he had heard them in engineering section. Then the Doc. would be irritated by the amount of people coming into sickbay for anti-hangover injections the next morning. Uhura, Sulu and Chekov were often among those people.

Scotty followed after Sulu, who left briefly after thanking him, and continued on his way. Scotty thought it was strange that the captain was so relaxed about the whole thing. There had been more blood in the brig and in the Klingons quarters. Jim had immediately ordered the ship to head back to earth. Scotty soon got immersed in technical journals and glasses of scotch. Time passed.

Jim was worrying himself stupid over Chekov. Bones had never known Jim to be like this. He knew that Jim treated every one of his crew like a brother but this was different. Anyone would think that Chekov _was_ his baby. He paced up and down sickbay frowning. Leonard McCoy finally got fed up of seeing his friend so lost.

"Jim, will you just sit down? You're making me dizzy and I'm only looking at you." His friend's face was fraught with worry. When Jim shook his head and continued to pace, Bones got up and forced Jim down onto a bed. "Captain, I'm telling you this as a friend, and as your chief medical officer. You need to stop worrying over it. Look, Chekov's bright, young, fit. To be honest, if every crew member except me, you and Spock, befell the same fate, I'd be putting my money on Chekov to get away from them and find a way back. It's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped it happening could you?"

Jim looked at him before throwing his face into his hands.

"But maybe he'd still be here if I hadn't put him in the brig. I mean, I made it a walk in the park for them didn't I? All they had to do was pick up the key and open the door. And he wasn't going to not walk out was he? Who would actually try and stay in a prison?" Jim spoke quietly, almost like he disliked the sound of his own voice. Bones sat down next to Jim and took a pulse reading. Jim frowned. "Bones, what are you doing?" Jim asked with curiosity edging into his tone. Bones looked mildly surprised.

"I'm taking a pulse reading what did you think I was doing?" he asked, a hint of humour in his eyes.

"I know you're taking a pulse reading, I mean, _why_ are you taking a pulse reading?" the captain asked his friend. Bones looked even jokier now and Jim was getting scared. The only time Bones was jokey was when he had given everyone on the ship a "Happy Hypo" or when he'd been hitting his secret stash of saurian brandy.

"Oh well, it's a reflex test. Carry on!" he was positively beaming. His whole face was alive with laughter and joy. Jim stood up and started backing away from the crazed doctor who snatched up an electronic clipboard known as a PADD and started scribbling away. After a couple of minutes Bones started looking at him and started crying_. No_, Jim thought, _what the hell? He never cries! This is weird. I better get the nurse. _He edged his way carefully around the doctor and walked into the office. Nurse chapel came toward him smiling.

"Can I help you captain?" she asked sweetly. The look on her face was genuine so Jim thought she didn't know what the doctor was doing.

"Yes! I think Bones has gone mad. Either that or he's drunk. He said he was giving me a reflex test. He took a pulse reading and then started laughing. Then he was drawing on a PADD and then started crying. Have you any idea what's causing it?" The Nurse had a frown on her face. She led the way back out of the office where the doctor was drawing again. He looked up at them and gave a cheery wave. Chapel was walking toward him and smiling like he was a four-year-old child.

"Hello there!" she said brightly to Bones "What are you doing? Can I see?" she spoke with a sickly sweet sound in her voice. Bones responded by handing her the PADD and saying he was drawing blueprints. "Oh wow! That is brilliant! Well done. You should be an artist!" she said with false enthusiasm. Bones looked like the smile which had spread from ear to ear would never leave his face.

"Well you pass by my standards Jim." He said, suddenly breaking out of the child act. "You looked really worried then! I didn't know my acting skills were that good!" He tilted his head back and laughed. The nurse was smirking now as-well.

"What? You mean, _it was fake?_ All of it? Was fake? Why?"

"Because Jim, when humans grieve and worry, their reflexes drop. And you need all your reflexes- we all do- if we're going to get Chekov back."

The intercom whistled, interrupting Jim's thoughts. Bones had walked over and clicked the small white button that was next to the blue panel. Jim could hear Uhura's voice in the background but wasn't listening to what it said. Even though the doctor was right, Jim couldn't help feeling partly responsible for Chekov's disappearance. He could be lying, helpless on the ground, slowly starving to death_. Snap out of it!_ He forced his mind back on his job.

"What did Uhura want?" he asked his friend, who was walking back over toward him, a reserved look in his eyes.

"She was notifying you that we are now in orbit around earth, tracking Russia." Bones told his captain. Bones couldn't bring himself to share the other thing she'd said to him. "_The captain is being hailed by the current Russian equivalent of a prime minister. He wants to discuss some very troubling issues with the captain immediately." _What very troubling issues were there? This yarn is just too complicated and painful. Why does it always have to be this ship that gets all the really hard problems to solve? Dr McCoy fidgeted from one foot to another trying to word it in his head before repeating it to Jim.

"Jim, the Russian leader," he paused, not quite sure how to word it, "they erm, want to. To talk to you about something." Jim looked as confused as Bones felt. His frown looked so deep on his face Bones thought it would never come back off.

"Why would- what about? What thing? What the hell?" Jim asked to no-one in particular. He started toward the door.

"Jim wait!" Bones cried out, going after his friend. Jim stopped but didn't turn around. "Do the rest of the crew know what's happening?" Jim's shoulders sagged. He didn't turn around but his head dipped down.

"Only the bridge crew and you. And you nurse I guess." Jim finished, glancing over at the befuddled looking nurse. The nurse nodded absent-mindedly and walked out of the room to finish the work she had been doing in the office. Bones nodded. Jim left to leave again and was surprised when he saw bones follow him into the turbo lift.

Pavel tore the Klingons off Larisa and cradled her gently as she fell to the blood-stained floor. "Pavel," she croaked barley able to keep her eyes from closing. Pavel gently ran a hand through her hair. He shook his head blindly. Her hand reached up and grasped his shirt. "Don't, baby, don't fall apart, go back to your friends. Stay there. Don't let them break you too. My born survivor." She exhaled and then laid still. Pavel bent his head over her and he waited until all the heat had left her body. His hand came up and rolled her eyelids shut. Laughter from behind him turned his sadness into blind fury. He turned his head sharply to look at the only family he had. Being careful not to drop it suddenly, he placed his mother's body onto the floor. Slowly rising to face his relatives, he felt the anger boiling inside his stomach and he had to fight the urge to go and do the same to them. The evil sound stopped abruptly. They walked over, staring intently at him. Anger took over his fear of these powerful beings as they tried to take him down. After about a five minute struggle, his half-brother had a tight hold on his left arm. His step father was holding his shirt collar with an iron grip. Drogaff "senior"- as he demanded to be called- leaned forward, putting weight onto Pavel's chest.

"Don't you dare rebel!" he spat in Pavel's face. "Don't you remember what happened last time? To your poor poor brother?" He asked Chekov. This just made Pavel even angrier. He tried to break free from his half-brother but struggling was pointless. Tarasov was twice as strong as he was. Pavel gritted his teeth as he was pushed effortlessly to the ground. He was in agony with his knee and wrist and his lungs still felt like they were being torn apart with every breath he took_. It would be easier if I just stopped breathing._ He thought dismally to himself. His step-father laughed. Pavel braced himself for the blows that would surely follow. What happened next he would never have guessed. "Get up." the klingon said. Pavel knew it must be a trap. Of course! The klingon wanted to punch his lights out and at the moment, he had his head bent. He didn't move a muscle; he was not going to get his face punched in. "I said, get up." When Pavel remained still for a second time his step-father got angry "Are you deaf? You idiotic human! I said get up!" The rough scarred hand clamped down on Pavel's neck like a lion holding on to its prey and pressure-pointed him as he dragged Pavel to his feet.

"Get the hell off me!" Pavel cried in Russian at them as he struggled to get the flesh jaw from around his neck. His family roared and bent double with merciless laughter as they started to push him toward a local estate. He recognised the third house down, number 20. The place he had grown up in. The house where it had all happened. Pavel closed his eyes as the memories came flooding. _Walking through into the "room", two sharp knocks on the front door shattered the three-year-olds daydream. Frowning slightly, he called for his parents and walked toward the door. His mum had been quick to respond to his cries. She swung open the door and in that moment the world seemed to stop. "May I come in?" a gruff voice asked. It sounded gentle enough then, but it was obviously not always gentle. Thump thump thump meant that dad was coming down the stairs. She looked back at him as he stared long and hard at her. "I think I've got some explaining to do…" she mumbled quietly. Dad walked into the room, pushing his son gently forward as-well. Then the strange man walked in, what on earth was wrong with his head?..._

Jim walked into his quarters slowly and collapsed onto his bed. He groaned when he looked at the time. _How much longer can it take? _The leader of Russia, apparently, hated visitors to his country. Only Russians got in, only Russians got out. His personal secretary had been gaining them 'permission to come into the country as V.I.P's' for the last two and a half hours. Jim was getting more and more tetchy. All he wanted to do was find Chekov and forget any of this ever happened. They could go into space, and things would be normal again- well, as normal as things can ever be on the Enterprise. He had been patient, waiting all day on the bridge for a reply from Russia but they were maintaining radio silence. _Oh what the hell?_ He figured. Jim radioed Bones and told him to meet him in briefing room three in five minutes. His friend had sounded surprised but agreed to meet him. Jim walked out of his room and went to find Spock. _Probably in botany or on the bridge._ Jim reasoned, he wasn't only looking for Spock but also for Sulu and Scotty. _All the S's! What a coincidence. I'm closer to botany so I'll go there first. If I find Spock and Sulu then I'll go straight to engineering but if not, I'll go to engineering via the bridge._ Jim planned the route in his head. Crew-members he was passing were frowning at him as if he shouldn't be here. He stopped a new auxiliary navigator. "What's your name? I'm never any good at remembering names." He told her apologetically. She looked shocked that the captain should want to talk to her but after a moment's pause, she replied.

"Um, Lieutenant Power, sir, why?" her voice sounded unsure, as if she thought this was some kind of prank.

"Why, lieutenant Power, is everyone that I walk past staring at me like I'm a newbie?" he demanded in a kind but firm voice that suggested he didn't want to be messed around.

"I don't know because you're not new but em, my guess would probably be because of the tear-stains all down your cheeks." She finished in a rush, after seeing kirk's expression change after the first part of her answer. Jim frowned when she'd finished. _Tear-stains? What tear-stains? I haven't been crying. What the hell is wrong with the crew? Ever since Chekov went missing… _he forced himself not to think of Chekov. It hurt too much, knowing he was partly to blame for whatever had happened to the kid. He mentally cursed. Chekov was 24. He was not a kid and he hated being called a kid. Jim and Bones had seen the result of the Russian being called a kid by someone many a time since he was put on the crew. "Sir, what are you doing here? Its gamma shift. Why are you here?" the lieutenant asked him wearily.

"I am looking for, have you seen Spock, Scotty or Sulu? I need to find them. It's urgent!" he replied. The young navigator' eyebrows went wide in shock.

"Em, yes sir, I err, Mr Spock and Mr Sulu are both in botany and I think Mr Scott is on the bridge. He's quite busy fixing the helm though." She finished rapidly. Jim bowed his head and let a smile crack on to his face. Acting on instinct, he grabbed her wrists and bent them down as he bent down.

"Thank you so much!" he said gratefully as he let go of her hands and rushed down the corridor, heading for botany. Lieutenant Power was completely flustered by the captain's abnormal behaviour but she carried on with her work and headed off toward auxiliary control, shaking her head in disbelief.

Jim raced through the corridors and eventually crashed into the botany doors headfirst. He backed off, a bit dazed as the doors slid open. Sulu and Spock looked around suddenly by the commotion and looked a bit confused as Jim walked in holding his nose. "Spock," Jim groaned noisily, "You need to get those doors to open according to the speed the person trying to enter is going at." He finished.

"No offence captain," Sulu started, "but do you mean you just face-planted the door again?" he asked, in a slightly amused tone. Both men looked at Jim, waiting patiently for an answer. He nodded his head silently. He looked back up at them. Sulu was smiling gently; Spock had a hint of humour in his human eyes. He smiled as-well. It was funny, after all. Even as captain, he could not stop things being funny. Nor could he stop things being urgent!

"Anyway, that's not why I came here, I came here to get you two." Jim said. "We are having a meeting in briefing room three. Now!" Jim barked at them. That seemed to sort them out. He got two yes captains as they filed out of botany. Jim stepped forward and placed one hand on Spock's shoulder. "Can you go via the bridge and get Scotty please?" Spock nodded and changed direction. Sulu waited for his captain and they walked down into the briefing room where Bones was already waiting. And he looked livid. Really livid.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?!" he exploded like a volcano, spewing lava with his voice, "You told me you would meet me here in three minutes! So explain to me why I've been stood here for seven! I have patients to deal with!" the look of outrage was still on his face when Spock and Scotty walked in the room.

"I err; I had been going round the ship getting these three. Sorry I was late." He spoke quietly and sheepishly and Bones instantly regretted shouting at him.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have lost my cool like that." Bones told his friend.

"Bones, forget it!" Jim beamed at the doctor. Bones gave a small smile as they all sat down. "So, I want your opinions." He told the group of people, who all looked confused.

"Opinions about what, captain?" Scotty asked. Sulu nodded. He agreed with Scotty's question. "Haven't I told you? Sorry! I am considering skipping the waiting game and beaming down to Russia to look for Chekov without permission."

All he got for his efforts was a silent room full of stunned people…


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six**

Decisions

Jim looked round at the people in the room. Sulu – playing his part well - was frowning deeply. _Oops! Sulu doesn't know that Chekov's not on the ship! Oh well, he knows now! _Jim thought. He glanced at bones who shrugged, then at Spock.

"I think it would be unwise captain. Russia has some of the best defence technology and will probably have a beaming shield in place. Besides, there are rumours that Russia has created a miniscule device that is streamed into a computer in the capitol. These devices make it possible to track down anyone in Russia with one. It would give us a good idea of where we need to go to look for him." for some reason, Spock had avoided saying Chekov's name since he had gone missing.

Jim listened intently. "Spock, how do these tracking devices work? I mean, do the people have to go and get one or what?" he asked. If it was up to the individual, there was no guaranteeing that Chekov had one.

"No captain, it became law to get on over thirty years ago. If memory serves and I have understood the device correctly, then, at the age of two, it is compulsory for a child to have one injected under their skin, just in front of the right ear. It would be an excruciatingly painful process so the child is unconscious when it happens." Jim screwed his face up. He couldn't imagine how painful it must be, to have a microchip injected into the side of your head.

"Is it done like, in a hospital or doctors?" Bones asked. He was dreading the answer. He remembered when he was child. He had hated the thought of doctors, let alone hospitals. It must be really scary as a two-year-old.

"No Doctor." Jim looked up, a look of sheer disbelief spread all over his face. "It is what is referred to as a 'Back-street job. ` They are taken into a dark room, knocked out physically, and then it is injected into their head. A most illegal way to perform a legal operation." Spock finished. He didn't look phased by what he had just said. Bones was obviously disturbed by the thought. Sulu was positively puking and Scotty was looking anxiously toward the door.

"So, you wouldn't recommend beaming down there anyway?" Jim asked the Vulcan. Spock looked up at Jim and shook his head.

"Anyone else got anything to say?" Jim asked the group. At this point, Sulu looked up. Watching the captain closely, he started to speak.

"Aye Captain. Isn't it possible to do both?" he asked. Jim frowned at the helmsman, a sure sign for him to carry on. "A small group could beam down to where the Klingons did and start looking, and others could wait up here for permission so the Russians don't suspect." As he finished, Bones and Scotty nodded their agreement.

"Alright, Spock, is that a good idea?" Jim asked. There was no way he was going to blunder in and make a potentially fatal mistake.

"Good, it most probably will work but, it will be highly dangerous. If the Russian government were to find out about the landing party, they wouldn't hesitate to start a man-hunt and take prisoners. Russians are also known through-out the galaxy for their 'highly imaginative ways of finding out what they want to know. I doubt they would hesitate to use their highly praised methods." Spock told the group. "The groups would have to be volunteers. No-one has the right to order another man into such a dangerous away-mission." Everyone nodded.

"Right so everyone's agreed?" Jim asked, glad it had only taken ten minutes to get this sorted. "Is anyone volunteering?" he asked. Sulu's hand was straight up, followed closely by Scotty's. Bones was frowning.

"Jim, it would be wise for a doctor to go down but, would it be too suspicious if I was to go?" As he spoke Uhura walked in.

"Captain, what's happening?" They knew Uhura would have tapped into their meeting but they weren't expecting her to walk in. Jim looked up from his thoughts about what Bones has said as Spock filled her in. "I wish to volunteer." She said solemnly when Spock had finished. "And it would solve the problem of taking a doctor. I am emergency-aid trained. I could hopefully help treat whatever- if any- wounds he might have when we find him."

"I don't mean to be a downer, but you sound like you know where he is already." Jim commented. He looked at her standing there.

"You've got to be confident. When you're confident, things happen. If you sit there worrying, nothing's going to change." She told him. Jim nodded. Uhura was right.

"Alright. That's the undercover search party sorted." Jim made it sound final. None of them were backing out now. "You must all have a fully-charged phaser, a communicator and I want all of you to go in Russian civilian clothes. Oh and I dare say a translator might come in handy. Be in the transporter room for 11:55. You'll go at midnight."

The rotting oak door swung inwards and Pavel instantly recognised the interior of the ancient house. Hardly anything had changed since the day he'd been chased out, when he had been 11 years old. The bright wallpaper was peeling in the corner and was hardly distinguishable as white anymore. Brown marks from things being dragged across it had made it dark and gave the place an eerie feel. Spots of red mixed in with the brown and were well hidden. _If they weren't, police would have dragged that pig in years ago for wife-beating and child abuse. Of course, it would ruin his career as a general if he were to have his collar felt._ Pavel thought to himself. He looked down, past his knee- which was still dislocated, but Pavel had got used to the pain by now, - And looked at the shabby carpet. He scrutinised it carefully. It had been changed. Replaced with a very similar copy but it was not the same by a long shot. Pavel knew because the black patch where he and his brother had accidentally set it on fire was missing.

"I think you know where to go." His half-brother said icily from behind him. Pavel deliberately ignored the hint and remained still. His brother pushed him through a steel trap door that was covered in graffiti. This room had changed completely. When Pavel had lived here_… when I used to live here, it used to feel, right. But now, I feel nothing. Not even a slight happiness at being home after, what, sixteen years away from the place. That's not right. _Pavel tried to erase the memories from his mind. He needed to concentrate. There had to be a way out. As they came fully into the room, a light flickered on followed by thousands. Chekov automatically screwed up his face until his eyes adjusted to the sudden bright light. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around the room in disbelief. This had once been his room, where he had grown up. Now it had one clear use; torture. There was an electric chair shoved in one corner, out of the way from the entrance. There was a whole quarter of the room filled from top to bottom with ancient tortures. There was a pair of shackles drilled into the wall; there were some strange metal hoops that fastened shut. _God knows what they are for, but it sure as hell can't be good._ Pavel thought. He knew there would be no escape for him now. If the Klingons had brought him in here, it was for one reason only, to kill him.

He twisted his neck to look at them, not even trying to disguise the fear in his eyes. They gave him evil grins in return. He knew what that meant. He shook his head at them defiantly. They walked toward him, gathering speed all the time. He saw their attacks coming, but could do nothing to stop them. His punching arm was out of action, it was full of crushed bone. The blows rained down on him everywhere. Head, chest, arms, they didn't care where they were hitting. One of them hit his dislocated knee with such a force he crumpled onto the floor.

Black dots appeared in front of his eyes. He could vaguely make out his step-father fiddling with something; something long and thin, with a silver sick on the end. The injection didn't hurt, but it left a loud throbbing in his head. It urged him to sleep but there was something at the back of his mind, trying desperately to keep him awake. Was his own conscience toying with him, or was there something really important he needed to be awake for? Something cold clasped round his wrists as the haze in front of him thickened and left him in blackness…

**11:55 p.m.**

Jim met Sulu, Uhura and Scotty in the transporter room. It was strange enough seeing them out of uniform but, seeing them in Russian clothes was even stranger. The clothes suited Chekov, it was almost like they had been made exactly for him but Jim knew it was just normal clothing. But Chekov's thin frame made the clothes look alright, but Sulu and Scotty weren't skinny like Chekov. Uhura looked sexy in the Russian made dress she was wearing. It was a basic but effective dress. Short, black, low-cut, strapless, everything that attracted a man. It had the most beautiful pattern on it as-well though. Normally Jim never took time to admire dresses that girls wore; he was usually trying to imagine the beauty _underneath_ the dresses. He dragged his eyes away from Uhura's cleavage long enough to register that everyone was waiting on him for the order. He cleared his throat gently. "Well, err, there's nothing much to say, just good luck really and err, maintain radio silence unless you absolutely have to tell us something. The Russians will no doubt be monitoring the ships frequency. Good luck!" he spoke quietly. He wasn't going to admit it, but he didn't have faith in the idea. He didn't see what use they would be. They yellow beams of people disappeared and Jim left the room in silence, reflecting on whether he should have let them go.

On the planet's surface, the air had a November chill and pretty soon all three were shivering. They took in the looming shadow of the wooded area in front of them. They glanced in the opposite direction briefly. Scotty pulled a tri-corder from around his shoulder and started scanning. "I think, he went, that way." He said pointing into the woods. Sulu shuddered.

"I hate woods. They're creepy." He mumbled under his breath. He took a step forward and the others followed. "This is going to be a long night." He sighed dramatically.

"You just be glad you've got some layers of clothing on!" Uhura remarked. Sulu hadn't been paying attention to much over the last hours before beaming down and had failed to notice what Uhura was wearing.

"Yeah, but this is hardly going to keep us warm." He replied as he picked at the funny material. Uhura scoffed loudly.

"Yeah, but be glad you're not wearing a prostitute dress!" she said hotly. Scotty laughed.

"It isn't a prostitute dress!" he chortled. Uhura shot him a glance.

"Oh really? What do you think a red light above a black door means then?" she asked, the sarcasm in her voice obvious. She waited for a reply as they carried on walking.

"Err, that someone can't see, so they switched a light on?" Scotty asked her. He did really know what it meant but he couldn't resist annoying the communications officer, she was hilarious when she was angry.

"No! You dumbass! It means that there are women who sell sex there!" she cried out. Then it dawned on her that Scotty was winding her up. They entered the first few trees. Being in the dark made it hard to navigate and all of them bumped into trees until their eyes adjusted to the light.

Pretty soon, they found the road and stopped. Once again, they didn't know where to go. Uhura was looking across the road hopefully, an indication she wanted to go that way but Scotty seemed to have different plans. He was walking toward a black shadow on the floor.

"Oh my," he whispered. "Sulu, you better get a look at this!" he called softly but urgently. He was shell-shocked. As Sulu walked over carefully, Scotty stunned the air with his phaser to make some light. "Flowers, bouquets, loads of 'em. And that!" he exclaimed. Sulu looked down in the light. It was fading quickly but he could see what Scotty meant. About a hundred thousand flowers were laid out, some with cards, some with other, more meaningful things, next to them. He followed Scotty's finger to a body on the ground. _Wait! A body? What the? Of all things?_ Sulu thought. He looked across at the lieutenant-commander, frowning deeply. They stumbled through the ankle-deep flowers and crouched next to the stinking corpse.

"What on Earth happened here? Are all these flowers for whoever that was?" Sulu asked genuine bewilderment in his voice. Sulu looked across at Scotty.

"I don't think so. This person, whoever they were, has only being dead for no more than two hours I'd say." Scotty told him. Then he turned to Uhura. "You'd better report this to the ship."

Sulu looked down at the body in front of him. Then he shuddered. "It's not, is it? I can't tell in this light, not to mention the fact that it's been hacked to bits so much, I wouldn't be able to tell anyway."

He really didn't want to hear Scotty's reply but as it turned out, he didn't have to. Something moved, just in front of them. The two officers looked at each other momentarily before lunging at the bush. Scotty caught hold of warm flesh. He dragged it out of the bush and pulled it straight up.

"Ow!" it cried out. "Let go of me! I want to help you, get off!" Whatever it was had a feminine voice.

Scotty loosened his grip and the creature stopped screaming. "Who are you, what do you want?" he asked in a commanding tone. The thing stopped struggling as much.

"I err, my name is Klavdia, I want to help you." She said breathlessly.

"Do you know what we are doing here?" Sulu asked. It was strange that what was now obviously a child should claim to want to help three adults. He came toward the girl who glanced in the other direction.

Klavdia pulled her arm free before she spoke again. "You are looking for Pavel. You are Sulu, Scotty and Uhura from the Enterprise and you are looking for Pavel Chekov." She finished.

Scotty looked at her face sharply. "How do you know that?" his harsh tone didn't mask the worry in his voice. There was a scream of anger from the same bush and Scotty was sent flying backwards. Sulu let go of Klavdia and tore off the other child that had attacked Scotty. "Jesus! You got some force there. Felt like she was made to fight, that did." The lieutenant commander sounded slightly impressed.

"Get the hell off of me, you stupid scoundrel! We want to help you find him so let go!" _another girl, definitely_ Sulu thought to himself. He was struggling to hold the kid. She was tough and strong.

"Quite feisty an' all! What a character!" Scotty smirked. Sulu finally let go of the girl. She ran over to Klavdia and they stood next to each other.

"My name's Karina." The second girl spoke with iciness in her voice. She was taller and thinner, if it was possible. They were both stick thin figures. _They look like they've been on the street_ Sulu thought. He didn't know how right he was.

"It looks like we've got some explaining to do." She told them…


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven**

Debating

Pavel blinked slowly, he was surrounded by darkness. He still felt groggy from the Klingons' last attack. Then that feeling came again, he had forgotten something, something important. He tried to stand but something was holding his wrists at a certain level, which only allowed him to kneel. Turning his neck slowly, he looked around him. He was in shackles which were drilled into the wall. His head pounding, he cried out for Piotr.

The ghost from his imagination melted through the wall and came to him. "How are you?" There was concern in his voice. That worried Pavel. His brother only ever sounded concerned when something was really bad. A shiver ran through Pavel as the ghost put a hand against his brow.

Looking up into his brothers face Pavel could see a small silver tear run down Piotr's cheek. "What's wrong?" Pavel asked. He hated to see people crying. A brief smile cracked on Piotr's face.

"You are wrong." He said softly. He smiled gently down at his younger brother. Pavel was frowning. "You underestimate how much you mean to others. Your friends have come down looking for you. Some wait for permission from the government, and three have beamed down to find you secretly."

This got Pavel's attention. "Piotr, they can't, they mustn't find me!" he said, the urgency in his voice undeniable. "If the Klingons do anything to them, I, they mustn't…" he faded off and Piotr understood.

"Look, Koloth sent Klavdia and Karina. They will keep them occupied for now. If they come near to this place, he will move you. Ok?" Piotr offered. His younger brother looked up at him, frowning.

"Move me? Where? How?" he asked.

Piotr smiled wickedly and started to walk away. "Pavel, I am a ghost and I can manipulate Koloth. I can stop people from seeing things and I can make people see things." He reached the other side of the room and pointed down. "Look!" he said, turning his body so his brother could see.

"Piotr, there's nothing the- oh my god! But, but how? You must have had Koloth working on that for at least six months before they turned up on the ship!"

Pavel stared at the huge hole that had been drilled into the side of the room. Just from looking it was obvious it went miles deeper underground. "How far does that go?" Pavel asked. A small idea had started to form in his mind.

"Do you remember the old wooden house he built, on the top of that hill? It leads to a trap door in the floor of that building, the very same he built for us." Pavel nodded. His plan would work. He could get the three out of harm's way. This was a battle they couldn't possibly help with. His brother suddenly seemed concerned.

"Why does it matter?" he asked darkly. "Pav, why does it matter? What are you thinking?"

Pavel looked up towards the ceiling. There had been movement, and voices. That could only mean one thing. They were coming. Piotr looked up and back at his brother. "Take my friends through there. I'll stay here. To do a runner on the Klingons will just make them more determined to kill me." Piotr looked like he couldn't believe what Pavel had just said.

"Oh and how am I to get them through here without them seeing you? What do you think I am? A magician?"

Pavel smiled cunningly. "No." he said. "I think you're a ghost!" Piotr rolled his eyes at the way Pavel used his own statement against him as he merged into the background. The sound of the Klingons became suddenly louder. They both came into view as they crashed down the metal stairs. The sight of them brough Pavel back to reality and he knew that he'd imagined talking to his brother.

"Well well well, look what we still have here. Haven't you died yet?" his half-brother teased. As Koloth spoke his father, Rakaia, silenced him.

"You need to stop being so strong and healthy. That way you'll die quicker. You would already be dead if that blasted Vulcan hadn't come and found you." Chekov swallowed uneasily. "Anyway, back to business and facts," Koloth continued, "the fact is you are not dead and that needs to change."

"Very well put, my son!" Rakaia praised. "You will make a good army general yet!" Koloth looked pleased by that.

Pavel started struggling when they tried to stab at him with another, smaller needle. From the look of it, it would only knock him out for around ten minutes, enough time to arrange and prepare a brutal death for him.

After minutes of dodging, Pavel felt the needle stab into his neck but strangely, he didn't black out. He suddenly felt drowsy and couldn't focus on anything. A disorientation drug, Pavel thought as his mind slipped away. After that, he stopped processing what he could see.

Jim struggled to keep his calm. Sitting on the bridge he was getting really frustrated. There had been no word from from the landing party since they had informed them about the body and the girls. There was still a silence from Russia. This just wasn't fair. Surely it didn't take five days to gain access to a country! "Captain, what are your orders?" the new navigator, a Mr Oakley, asked. (the Andorian had been transferred to a different ship because he couldn't co-operate with anyone.)

Jim had been distracted. "What?" he asked, irritated by the interruption.

"What are your ord-"

"I heard that bit, what's the situation?" Jim asked. He knew he was potentially jeopardising his rank by giving away that he wasn't focused but he needed to know what was happening.

"Captain," Spock started "The Russian government have not been able to clear our entrance with the authorities. They peacefully request we leave orbit." Jim took this bit of information in and a huge internal battle erupted. He had to restrain himself from beaming down and punching the "Russian Authorities".

"Tell them we, peacefully wish to remain here for a couple of days, to see if we can locate him with our scanners." Jim told Spock who did as he was told. The main viewing screen suddenly burst into different colours before settling down to show a groups of people, five in suits, five in army uniform. They were leaning over a huge table that was in the middle of a low-ceiling room, they were all arguing loudly. The table was covered in maps, computers and other screens showing data.

"Captain," a female Russian voice boomed up to him. The arguing behind her instantly died down. "As you can see, things are tense down here. The Authorities aren't too keen on your beaming down here. The government are all trying to argue that it will be alright. It would be easier if you stopped orbiting Russia. Please, can you not see it's for the best?"

"No I'm sorry, I can't leave orbit. My crewman is still down there. I cannot leave without him." Jim would play stubborn, if that's what they wanted.

"Please captain," the woman pleaded. "We have just come out of a war with the Klingons _on the losing side!_ To upset them now by allowing you to beam down would be asking for them to go nuclear! The nuclear missiles from the early 21st century are still stowed in Russia. If they were set off they would consequentially blow up the whole world. Is one man really worth all that much?"

Jim knew it was a desperate plea. But the news about the war confused him. He could remember a few months ago on the ship_. Chekov had seemed really glum, not his usual cheery self. He had asked if something was wrong and what had Chekov said? Trouble at home, captain, it's probably nothing._ How could he be so stupid? He had known there was a war in Russia. He had found out that morning. Why hadn't he put two and two together? _Trouble at home my arse!_ Jim thought angrily as he remembered how glum the Russian had been for months on end. _It made sense; he was worried about the war and impending doom._

Jim knew he had to make a decision. He also knew he was not leaving without his navigator. "I'm not asking to beam down am I?" Jim told the lady. "I'm asking permission to scan the country for him. In that process, no-one will leave the ship. Is there a problem with that?" He asked. He rose, staring at the woman who looked torn apart. She turned around to the men behind her and shrugged.

"Captain, you do not seem to understand the dilemma." One of the men in uniform came forwards. As he came closer, it became obvious he was klingon. "I am soon to become the leader of Russia and I am not prepared to let you look for your man."

Jim was close to exploding inside. How could that Klingon pig be so selfish? This was ridiculous.

"Well, as an army leader, surely you know what it's like to lose men. Can't you understand that we won't leave until we have found him?" He was pleading now but he didn't care, he was determined to get permission.

"Actually, I've got a question for you." Jim rolled his eyes before settling them on the screen again. "If this person is so important, why the hell did you send him here anyway?"

Jim was taken aback. It was a good question. He didn't know whether to tell the truth or not. "Well?" the klingon asked.

"I didn't send him anywhere." Jim answered defiantly.

"Oh, he came down of his own accord did he?" He asked smugly.

"No!" Jim said, releasing the fury that had been building up inside him. "No! He was taken. By a klingon ambassador that had been on my ship!"

Now it was the Klingon's turn to look taken aback. He strode off and came back holding a list of some sort. "Was this person Ambassador Drogaff?" He asked. The Klingon's tone became less civilised when he said the name.

"Yes! Yes it was." Jim confirmed. The Klingon's frown now looked permanent. "Why? Do you know him?"

"Unfortunately I do. He has caused us a lot of trouble over the years what with his charges and everything." The klingon was starting to sound more human.

"I dare say he's about to cause us more trouble sir." A younger human solider spoke up from the table. He had some camouflage smudges in his face but they didn't hide a huge scar that ran from the centre of his forehead to his jaw, touching his eye in the middle. It made the man look intimidating but the look of worry on his face revealed that he was a lot younger than he looked.

"Who are you?" Jim asked him. He didn't know why, but his face looked familiar.

"I am going to be your guide while you're down here." He looked up at his commander who gave him a warning look. "My name is Alexei."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight**

Moving

"Well, we were friends with him and his family god rests their souls." Klavdia told Sulu, Uhura and Scotty.

Karina scoffed. "God doesn't exist!" She cried out. "If God exists then why do people like us live in cardboard boxes on the street? And why do we starve every day? And why-"

"Alright! We get the idea!" Sulu cried. "What actually happened to his family?" Karina's expression was like someone had told her she was dead. Her mouth had dropped and she was staring in delayed shock.

"You mean, he never told you?" She asked. "Right friends you must be!" They got the distinct impression she was slagging them off but they didn't understand. It dawned on Sulu then about what Pavel had told him about his father.

"I think he told me once about his father. He was killed in a car crash or something?" Sulu questioned nervously.

Karina and Klavdia both turned instantly and looked at him. They were both staring intently like wolves watching their prey.

"What did you say?" One of them asked menacingly. They were hard to tell apart in the half-light, especially when they stood together.

"He- He told m-me that once" Sulu stammered awkwardly. The eyes doubled their intensity as another person came from behind Sulu.

"Well well well, lookie who we got here boys!" A boy shouted loudly to them. "We got some street girls on our patch! We all know what happens to street kids!"" His pronunciation was terrible. He had menacing, evil black eyes that glinted in the moonlight. His tubby figure was covered by a black satin tracksuit and gleaming white trainers that looked brand new. Numerous gold and silver chains hung from his neck and wrists. He obviously thought he was the tough guy.

"Why don't you just turn your mite-infested arse around and power-walk it back onto the estate before you find you can't walk at all?" Karina replied with a slobbish tone. She took one step toward the mean-looking rich kids and folded her arms across her chest. Sulu immediately recognised that stance. Chekov always used to stand like that when he thought someone needed educating the hard way.

The rich kid looked taken aback by her action, but a fraction of a second later, found his voice again.

"Why don't I just steal my dad's Harley and run you over with it? Because it's pointless you street-dwelling, ugly-faced, dumbass!" He answered. He drew out a knife as he spoke.

Karina unfolded her arms and pulled a dark shape off a leather braided belt she was wearing. Then she took a step forward and returned an insult.

"You puppy eyed, stupid, birdie muscovite!" After that she threw herself at him, grabbed his wrist and yanked downward. Her opponent was forced to drop the knife as his wrist was twisted and snapped. He cried out in pain as the girl carried on twisting.

"Okay! Okay!" He whimpered pathetically, "Please. Don't hurt me! Let me go, and I'll leave!" He sobbed. But his plea got him nowhere and pretty soon his pain turned to anger.

"Right that's it! You are going to pay for this!" He screamed. He kicked her bare ankle and pushed her away. Karina stumbled backwards as the boy made a lunge for her neck. She ducked – narrowly missing being strangled – and then head-butted him in the stomach. As he clutched his stomach in pain Karina shoved him backwards and into one of his friends.

That's when trouble erupted. While two of the kids went flying, the other nine that had been watching came forward. And to make matters worse, a siren a few blocks off broke through the eerie night-time silence.

Mr Tough-Guy number 1 attacked viciously. He clobbered Karina's jaw and left her dazed. With his other hand he punched her stomach with enough force to dint a sheet of metal. Then, using his ankle, he tripped her so she was sprawled on the sidewalk. But from her face, this was exactly what she'd wanted.

And after the next boy attacked they saw why. As he got closer, arms outstretched to get her neck, she kicked out wildly with both legs and sent him flying into the remaining boy who had been set to fight. Karina got up and took three steps toward the first boy who quickly got up and legged it, cradling his wrist as he went. The others who had watched followed suit.

Karina was smiling as she walked back towards them but then stumbled and fell to the floor. Scotty ran towards her and the others followed.

"What's wrong? Does it hurt anywhere in particular?" Scotty asked as he reached the girl's side.

"My side… feels warm… and sticky." Karina spoke in short bursts in-between desperate gasps for breath. Her hand fell away and from behind it, there was a silver glint and a tidal wave of blood…

The sensation of beaming always gave Jim a rush – of what, he wasn't sure. Either adrenaline or sickness. After blinking a few seconds he took in his surroundings. The long table was sprawled with maps with makeshift scribbles all over them. Plain beige walls, low, long white ceiling, simple light fittings. It all suggested a quick construction to Jim. Alexei's beaming face appeared in front of their eyes as they blinked. The dark fringe flopped down his forehead as he removed his helmet. The black hair was familiar, as was the pale, almost translucent skin. His dazzling blue eyes shone brilliantly in a memorable way. A way that Jim had missed only too much over the past weeks. The smile twisted the scar that – apart from his eyes - marred the otherwise mirror image of Chekov.

"So, we'll start looking for any clues as to his whereabouts where he beamed down." The young solider stated to them. His eyes, too, seemed to harbour a pain, Spock noted. "I can trace your ship's beam back to when the ambassador was beamed down on Aero City hill."

Alexei looked up from various maps strewn over the table. He studied Jim's face with searching eyes – eyes that could draw the secrets from the depths of a murderer's soul. "Would you think that was when he was beamed down?" He asked, still studying. It bothered Jim too much. The accent was too familiar, it disrupted Jim's thoughts – he couldn't concentrate with Alexei there, but he'd get nowhere without him.

He gave a small nod and focused his mind on finding Chekov as Alexei straightened up and led them through a musty smelling corridor and into the only high-tech room they'd seen so far. Wide, high-ceiling, spread-out. This room pretty much summed up Jim's first impression of Russia. All technology with no actual need for it. Alexei led them straight to one corner where there was a ten-person beaming pad. In silence they all took places on the pad. The young solider programmed the controls and leapt gracefully on to the pad.

Jim's vision blurred as he tried to open his eyes. He could tell he was on a hill from the way the land sloped away from in front of him. A brutal wind whipped him from the west. Suddenly from below them they heard frustrated shouting. Bones, Spock and Jim all recognised the voices and reflexively ran to break up the fight between Scotty and Sulu.

"No! You idiot! You don't do that! You need to apply pressure!"

"What on Earth are you doing? Are you trying to kill her? You need to levitate the wound above the heart! Do you know nothing?!"

Bones arrived shortly after Spock who was silently taking in the scene.

"Actually, you need to do both." He spoke very calmly as he walked. Luckily his face didn't portray how much his heart pounded as he imagined Uhura, lying on the floor bleeding. But as the body came into better view, they saw Uhura behind them, holding a child in her arms. She looked very pale as did the body on the ground. It moaned as Bones gently felt for the wound.

"That hurts. Alright we're going to fix that." He soothed gently. As he started to notice how much blood the girl had lost Bones knew he had to keep her talking, keep her awake. "Can you tell me where your carers are?"

"No!" Came an outraged cry from Uhura's arms. _The other child I saw_ Bones thought. _I wonder why they can speak English. _He turned his mind back to his work and within minutes the girl's wound was stitched and padded. Shakily, she stood up and thanked him in a Russian accent they were more used to hearing.

"My parents' are-"

"Don't tell them! Do you really think they are so different? They won't act! Just like all the others."

"I believe they will!" She retorted. Jim tried to understand what they were arguing about. None of what they had said made sense. And from the looks on their faces, it meant nothing to the other five. "Look at how different they are! They haven't even mentioned 'the new authorities' once. That has to go for something! And you know as well as I do that they're from Starfleet. They might be his friends. They_ need_ to know."

"Karina, you might as well tell them all of Russian history it's just-" She stopped when Karina waved her arm at her friend.

Alexei had stood in silence through all of this but now he stepped forward with a phaser pointing at the two children.

"Street children aren't supposed to live. Stand aside!" he barked the last part at the three officers. "Move!" he growled after they ignored his order. "And captain, I should shoot you. You promised you wouldn't beam anyone down." he glared at Jim, making Jim realise that he should be scared of Alexei. Jim frowned sternly and pulled him back.

"You won't shoot at them. And as for my fate, well, these officers beamed down before the government told us not to beam anyone down." Jim told him. Alexei looked at him, deciding whether to believe him.

"Alright, I won't take action against you. But these, street-dwelling type, they have to die. They hold Russia back and they mustn't live."

"Are you really going to shoot at unarmed, innocent children?" Jim asked softly. Alexei gave one stiff nod and advanced. He turned the phaser towards Klavdia then paused. He took an audible breath. Jim blinked.

In a second, everything happened at once. Klavdia's limp body slumped to the floor, Karina dived into the bush and Jim pulled the phaser out of Alexei's hand while Spock nerve-pinched him. Bones ran towards Klavdia's form on the ground. As he kneeled he felt immediately for a pulse to find a warm hand holding his back. He looked up and saw Karina's face obscured by the bushes and trees.

She shook her head at him then disappeared. Bones wondered what she'd meant by that. Then he saw it. A tiny slip of paper on Klavdia's neck. It had some writing on it thought Bones couldn't make it out in the dark. Had Karina wanted him to get this? He slipped it into a pocket anyway. He'd read when he got the chance. He stood and turned. Bones didn't have to feel for a pulse to determine his answer.

"She's dead Jim."


End file.
